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SERMONS 



SKETCHES OFSERMONS. 



REV. JOHN SUMME11FIELD, A.M.. 

LATE A PREACHER IN CONNEXION WITH THE METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



AN INTRODUCTION 



REV. THOMAS E. BOND, M.D. 



Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as 
his work shall be." — Rev., xxii., 12. 



NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 

No. 82 CLIFF-STREET. 

184 5. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

fa the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York- 



OMtftmn 

Judge and Mrs. Isaac R. Hitt 
No v . 17, 1931 



DEDICATION. 



TO THE REV. JOSHUA SOULE, 

ONE OF THE BISHOPS OP THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



Rev. and very dear Sir 



Many considerations impel me to dedicate this volume of Ser- 
mons and Sketches of Sermons to you 5 but the chief are, that 
you were among the first who cordially welcomed the Author to 
this country, and into the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church j to no one was he more indebted for counsel and direc- 
tion during his brief sojourn among us ; and to no one did he 
more implicitly yield his entire confidence. He was wont to 
speak among his friends of your kindness, as being little less 
than parental, and to express for you a filial regard. 

The bereaved relatives of the deceased unite in the desire to 
embrace this opportunity of expressing publicly their high es- 
teem for you as a man and as a minister of our holy religion, 
and their grateful remembrance of the kindness so generously 
extended to one whose memory is so dear to them ; and by none 
of them is the occasion improved with more real gratification 
than by, 

Reverend sir, 
Your most obedient humble servant, 

JAMES BLACKSTOCK. 

Port Chester, April, 1842. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



In offering to the public this new edition of Summerfield's Sermons, 
it is proper to state that a different sketch, selected from his remain- 
ing manuscripts, has been substituted in place of the fifty-third in the 
first edition. It was discovered, soon after the work was published, 
that an error had been committed in introducing this sketch, the 
thoughts and language of which are borrowed, almost entirely, from 
another. Mr. Summerfleld was eminently an original thinker ; but he 
was, at the same time, a diligent and laborious student, and intent on 
gathering from the ample stores of Christian literature whatever might 
strengthen his efforts in the great cause to which he was so ardently 
devoted. Hence he did not hesitate to transcribe occasionally, for a 
guide in his public ministrations, such expositions of Divine truth as 
impressed him most forcibly in the course of his reading, though al- 
ways with some mark of acknowledgment. But, as these marks were 
merely for his own recognition, they are often not very distinct, and 
not uniformly of one character. Thus, in the instance here noticed, 
the evidence of quotation was so obscure as not to attract the compi- 
ler's notice. It is proper farther to remark, however, as well for the 
satisfaction of the reader as in justice to the reputation of the revered 
and lamented author, that the work has been examined throughout, 
with a view to ascertain if there were any other inadvertences of the 
kind : none were found. 

The very favourable reception given to the first edition of these 
sermons affords satisfactory proof of their high appreciation by the re- 
ligious community, while it encourages the hope that, through God's 
providence, they will be made a distinguished instrument for good, in 
comforting and confirming the Christian, and in converting sinners 
from the error of their ways. 
New- York, December, 1842. 



INTRODUCTION. 



At length the public are presented with a volume of Sermons, 
and Sketches of Sermons, from the preparations for the pulpit of 
the Rev. John Summerfield ; a preacher who, for a brief space, 
enchained his immense audiences by the more than magic influ- 
ence of an eloquence, as peculiar in its character, as it was uni- 
versal in its control over the minds of men. The question will 
naturally arise in the mind of the reader, " Why have they been 
so long withheld]" The answer is, that those who possessed 
these precious remains, were made diffident of the favour with 
which their publication would be received, from some indications 
of disappointment when the life of Mr. Summerfield was present- 
ed to the public, written by one who, all agree, was eminently 
qualified for the task, and who certainly spared no pains to ful- 
fil the expectations of the numerous friends, and admirers of the 
deceased. In fact, Mr. Holland accomplished all that could be 
done, in regard to the biography of one whose brief career, though 
It blazed with unexampled brightness, was nevertheless marked 
with a sameness of incident, from which no writer could educe 
the variety which is necessary to give interest to narrative, 
whether of a general or an individual character. 

In the life of Mr. Summerfield there was nothing very pecu- 
liar. We mark, indeed, an early development of those strong 
mental endowments, which were so strikingly exhibited even in 
his first pulpit efforts ; but these were associated with the com- 
mon waywardness of genius, and the concomitant premature 
relish for the vices of manhood. The process, by which the 
Lord of the Harvest called such an instrument into his service 
has been so often witnessed, that, though it still astonishes by the 
exhibition of omnipotent power, as do all the works of God, yet, 
like the firmament above us, being constantly in view, it no lon- 
ger surprises by its novelty. His conversion was attended with 
no extraordinary circumstances. The instruments were such as 
to humble human pride, by showing that " the excellency of the 
power was of God, and not of man." Even the abiding, indelible 
impression made on his mind by the wholesomeness of parental 
precept, and the piety and uniformity of parental example, is so 
far from being a new exhibition of truth, that we are taught to 
look for it by the Old Testament Scriptures j and it has been con- 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

firmed to us in all ages by the experience of the Church. All, 
then, that a biographer could do, Mr. Holland has done. He re- 
corded faithfully, and he made a suitable use of the facts of the 
record. 

But it was precisely where the biographer could do least, that 
most was expected. The public ministry of this extraordinary 
evangelist burst suddenly upon the world, as a comet shows it- 
self among the heavenly constellations ; but the comet, view it 
from what place or position you will, is the same. All that can 
be seen of it is seen at once 5 and the future historian finds in 
its appearance only a simple fact, which can be recorded in a 
single page. Wherever Mr. Summerfield appeared, there was the 
same eagerness in all classes of people to hear him, and to see 
him ; and, everywhere, there was the same uniform admiration of 
the preacher's manner and of his sermons. In Ireland, in Eng- 
land, and in America, whatever were the characteristic differen- 
ces in the taste, and qualifications, and even the prejudices of the 
hearers, all heard with the same delight ; all hearts melted, and 
all prejudices gave way, under an eloquence which it was as im- 
possible to describe as to resist. But still, all this afforded little 
for his biographer. In any one of these countries, to describe the 
scene, and detail the facts and incidents of one occasion, on which 
he published to listening multitudes the Word of .Life, was to give 
what occurred on every such occasion ; and these followed each 
other with a rapidity which afforded no opportunity for other 
pursuits or engagements. 'Thus public expectation, with respect 
to the biography of Mr. Summerfield, was disappointed, because 
the expectation was unreasonable. All minds, all hearts were 
impressed with the living Summerfield, and no one could restore 
him to life, and present him as he had been seen and heard, the 
messenger of mercy and love, to whose ministry attentive multi- 
tudes listened with a delight, which it was vainly hoped could be 
recalled by the incidents of his life. Upon reading again the 
work of Mr. Holland, we are constrained to say, it is among the 
very best biographies that has fallen in our way ; yet we remem- 
ber to have participated in the common feeling when we first 
perused it. It was the manifestation of this feeling which dis- 
couraged the publication of the sermons and sketches contained 
in the volume now issued, as it was feared they would fall too far 
short of what so many heard from the lips of the author to give 
satisfaction. But they have now been postponed until they can 
be read by many, without the disadvantage of such comparison ; 
and by the remainder, after time and intervening events have 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

weakened, though they never can efface, the impressions made 
upon them by the sermons when they heard them from the pulpit. 
Thus we look with pleasure on the portrait of a deceased friend, 
after time has mellowed the severity of the bereavement ; though 
at first, it only revived the poignancy of our grief, by awakening 
the recollection of our loss. 

It was our happiness to know Mr. Summerfield, and to attend 
upon his ministry ; and since time has, in some degree, removed 
the spell of enchantment which his eloquence threw around us, 
we have endeavoured to analyze his discourses, yet fresh in our 
recollection, in order to discover what it was that gave such un- 
exampled power over the mind and heart to one so young, and, 
consequently, immature in judgment and experience j but we 
have not been satisfied with our success. 

It could not be said that he exceeded many whom we have 
known, in either learning or knowledge, though his attainments 
in these respects were very respectable; nor was he superior 
to hundreds of the preachers of his day, in reasoning or argu- 
mentative powers. His voice, though sweet and rich in its tones, 
had no great compass. His discourses did not strike one by 
the novelty of his opinions, or by the erudition they displayed. 
There were, it is true, in all his sermons, " thoughts that breathed 
and words that burned ;" but, for the most part, they presented 
only " what oft was thought, though ne'er so well express'd." 
What, then, was the irresistible charm in his preaching ! We 
honestly confess we cannot say. We have some vague idea of 
it, but cannot imbody it in words. There was, however, one pe- 
culiarity which could not fail to strike the hearer : it was what 
is called, by common consent, simplicity. The truths he dwelt 
upon had been felt in all their power by the preacher, and he pre- 
sented them in the simple, chaste, and forcible language of unso- 
phisticated feeling. The hearer who participated in his religious 
enjoyments, responded instinctively to every feeling of the preach- 
er ; and one who knew nothing of such experience, felt that it was 
the most important want of his nature, and his whole soul went 
out in cravings for the possession. It was this simplicity of style 
which never failed to make its way to the heart,, as certainly as 
pompous diction, and parade of language and learning shuts up 
every avenue to the feelings. 

But, though there was much in the clear perception, and the 
personal experience of the truths presented, and much, too, in the 
simplicity of the style and language in which they were clothed, 
it must be admitted that there Avas something in the manner of 



Vlll INTRODUCTION/ 

the preacher, which greatly added to the effect of his preaching'/ 
But who can describe this manner % It was not the gracefulness 
of his attitudes and action, though these were perfect. Every 
movement, whether of body or members, was not only exactly 
correct, but intuitively expressive of thought or feeling, appear- 
ing to obey some immediate impulse of the soul. There was no- 
thing theatrical, nothing studied, nothing which gave the slightest 
suspicion that it was done for effect. All seemed to come un 
sought, the immediate, spontaneous sympathy of a body, which 
lived and acted in obedience to the promptings of the soul within 
it. Yet this was not the peculiar charm, however important an 
auxiliary it might be. It was not even the first, or the strongest 
impression made on the auditory, though it could not fail to be 
taken into the account. But that which we remember to have 
struck us most forcibly in the manner of Mr. Summerfield Avas the 
meekness, the humility, the lowliness of heart which appeared in his 
whole deportment, bringing forcibly to the mind, the language and 
the example of Him who said, " Learn of me, for I am meek and 
lowly of heart." Every one saw personified, the Saviour of men 
in the act of washing the feet of his disciples, and the soul clave 
to the minister who bore the image and superscription of his 
Lord. It was this that so prepossessed you as to subdue, and 
shame, every previously-formed intention to criticise the coming 
sermon. The affections were surrendered at once, and the de- 
cisions of the judgment were anticipated by the suffrage of the 
heart. 

These selections from Mr. Summerfield's manuscripts are en- 
titled " Sermons and Sketches of Sermons," because many of 
them are really sermons, having not only the outlines of regular 
discourses, but the filling up is nearly perfect. Yet it is not 
intended that the reader should suppose they are here found as 
they were delivered. The elements of the structure, in all its 
parts, are entire, but the painting is hardly anywhere visible. 
Indeed, this was often the inspiration of the moment, when his 
fertile though sanctified imagination, was kindled by the holy 
fire with which the angel touched the lips of the prophet, deliver- 
ing a message from heaven. He seemed to have as little warn- 
ing of these touches as his hearers, and hence we could not ex- 
pect to find them in his closet preparations. 

Those who may be disappointed at finding in these sermons, less 
than they hoped for, of that peculiar, impressive eloquence which 
they admired in Mr. Summerfield, ought to remember too, as we 
have before hinted, how much they were impressed by the deliv- 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

ery of the sermons. They will recollect that when he read a 
hymn, or a chapter in the Bible, we wondered how we could have 
overlooked the many beauties and excellences in the composition, 
which then, for the first time, presented themselves. If this was 
owing to his manner of reading the hymn, or the chapter, how 
much more were his sermons indebted to the manner of their de 
livery. 

During the sixteen years which have elapsed since the death 
of the lamented author of these sermons, the relative into whose 
possession his manuscripts came, has submitted them to several 
friends whose opinions he values highly, and they have all 
strongly urged him to publish at least a selection from the vo- 
luminous manuscripts containing the preparations for the pulpit, 
notwithstanding the unfinished state in which they were left. 
His own convictions of their value, and of the extensive good they 
were calculated to do, being thus corroborated, he has at length 
ventured upon the publication. In doing this, he has adhered 
faithfully to the manuscripts, giving nothing but what is the au- 
thor's own ; except, that the quotations from the Scriptures which 
are referred to have been supplied. 

We have read the proof-sheets of these "sermons and sketch- 
es," as well as many of them in manuscript, and we are gratified 
to find them more perfect than could have been expected of an 
extemporaneous preacher. It was the author's practice to prepare 
first a brief outline of his sermon, and, as soon after having deliver- 
ed it as possible, to commit it to writing at greater length, from his 
recollection of the course he had taken when in the pulpit. His 
recommendation to a friend, then a student, but now an eminent 
minister of Christ, in reference to sermonizing, will give the best 
idea of his own method of study and preparation for the pulpit. 
"In reply to your remarks on extemporary discourses," he says, 
" I am glad to find your own soul in such perfect harmony with 
mine. You very much magnify the difficulty of it, but you have 
not yet been called to grapple with it; and I am fully persuaded 
that, even in your infancy as a minister of Christ Jesus, you will 
strangle the serpents : ouch is my decided impression, from the 
views you have already taken of the subject ; and yet you cry, 
'Hie labor, hoc opus est !' I do not know that anything I could 
suggest would be applicable to your circumstances, because the 
mode of training for the ministry in our church, differs so totally 
from yours. ****** 

" In your case I would recommend the choice of a companion 
or two, with whom you could accustom yourself to open and am- 



X INTRODUCTION. 

plify your thoughts on a portion of the Word of God in the way 
of lecture ; choose a copious subject, and be not anxious to say 
all that might be said ; let your efforts be aimed at giving a strong 
outline ; the filling up will be much more easily attained. Prepare 
a skeleton of your leading ideas, branching them off into their sec- 
ondary relations : this you may have before you. Digest well the 
subject, but be not careful to choose your words previous to your 
delivery. Follow out the idea in such language as may offer at 
the moment. Don't be discouraged if you fall down a hundred 
times ; for, though you fall, you shall rise again ; and cheer your- 
self with the prophet's challenge, s Who hath despised the day of 
small things V 

" To be a correct extemporaneous preacher, you will need to 
write a good deal, in order to correct style, and prune off the ex- 
uberance of language ; but I would not advise you to write on the 
subject upon which you intend to preach. If you fill up on paper 
the matter of your text, you will contract a slavish habit of cum- 
bering your mind with the words of your previous composition. 
Write on other subjects, and leave your words free and spontane- 
ous for pulpit exercises. I never preach without having prepared 
an outline, but I never write a sermon out at length." 

The author possessed extraordinary powers in the use of the 
pen , he wrote with a facility and accuracy that was truly aston- 
ishing; apparently, with as much ease and facility as he spoke. 
He has left seven post octavo volumes of pulpit preparations, con- 
taining between three and four hundred sermons and skeletons 
of sermons. They are written in a style of elegance hardly to be 
surpassed ; an erasure or an interlineation is rarely to be found 
in his voluminous manuscripts. His indefatigable application to 
the study of the Holy Scriptures must have been with pen in 
hand, as he has also left two large books, one a counting-house 
leger, containing a vast amount of notes or comments on the 
Scriptures, written so extremely fine, and the words so abbrevi- 
ated, that it is difficult to decipher them without a glass ; and, 
what is remarkable, an immense amount of these notes are writ- 
ten with a fine lead-pencil. Doubtless he discovered that he 
could make the pencil move faster than the pen. It is supposed, 
from the arrangement and the character of this labour, he must 
have contemplated writing a commentary on the Bible. 

That the author studied the Bible thoroughly is evident from 
the knowledge of it he acquired, and which is so manifest in all 
his sermons. That he searched the Scriptures for himself, and 
searched deeply, is also clear, from the nature of the innumerable 



INTRODUCTION. Xi 

aotes contained in these large volumes. He did not rely impli- 
citly on commentators, nor on the opinions of others ; he laboured 
to open the mine himself, and to search for hidden treasures j 
and he laboured successfully. Very early in life, and long before 
he thought seriously of the Christian ministry, he was in the 
habit of closeting himself, week after week without intermission, 
from 4> o'clock in the morning until 8 in the evening, sixteen hours 
a day ! Let the author himself speak in reference to commenta- 
tors from whom he differed, as well as from the popular opinion 
on some points. M Names," says he, u are only entitled to the 
respect due to individuals. There is a certain independence of 
•mind which spurns the trammels of hereditary knowledge, and 
s-eeks for knowledge itself, Our natural sluggishness, and mental 
apathy is the great reason why we bow implicitly to the opinions 
•of great and good men ; we do not bestir ourselves. I admire 
the man who does examine the opinion of another man, without 
bowing to his ipse dixit. Yet the world owes much to ancestral 
intellect. 

" This independence of mind is quite different from that little 
pride which knowledge puffeth up ; it is found, in the Christian, 
-connected with the deepest self-abasement and humility before 
God, at whose feet he has laid both his ignorance and his knowl- 
edge." 

When we take into the account, that the author commenced 
preaching before he reached the age of twenty years — that he was 
of a frail bedy and delicate constitution $ and reflect on his abun- 
dant labours — that " he moved with the speed of a chariot-wheel 
down hill, till the axle catches fire" — preaching five, seven, and 
ten times a week, amounting to four hundred sermons in the first 
eighteen months of his ministry, besides delivering addresses 
on various occasions, we are filled with astonishment. His 
whole soul was bent upon " doing the work of an evangelist, and 
giving full proof of his ministry." To restrain him was impossi- 
ble. If his friends remonstrated with him on his excessive la- 
bours, he was always ready with a reply, such as " The love of 
Christ constr-aineth me ;" or " My time is short, I must be about 
my Father's business." 

It is important to bear in mind that a number of the following 
discourses, especially some of the most extended, were delivered 
during the early part of the author's ministry, when he was com- 
paratively a mere youth 5 and that the whole are, as nearly as pos- 
sible, a transcript of the manuscripts as they were left, and which 
were not intended for publication, Under these circumstances, 



Xll INTRODUCTION, 

due allowance should be made, as it must be admitted that tihexe 
are few authors who would venture to put to the press, writings 
which had been kept as memoranda for their own eye, only. 

When it is remembered, too, that during his short sojourn on 
earth, the author laboured under almost continual ill health, and 
was often brought, by his intense application to study, and his un- 
remitting public labours, to the very verge of the grave, it will 
appear rather a matter of astonishment that his manuscripts are 
so numerous, and so nearly perfect, than that much is left unfin- 
ished. It will, we are persuaded, be a matter of rejoicing, that in 
what is now presented of the remains of Mr. Summerfield, " he ? 
though dead, yet speaketh," 

One* who had the privilege of examining the manuscript ser- 
mons remarks: "Having enjoyed the rare intellectual luxury of 
poring over his manuscripts, we are prepared to state, that his prep- 
arations for the pulpit evince the full concentration of all the pow- 
ers of his mind, and the best use of all the resources of knowledge 
within his reach on the subjects on which he expatiated. But y 
though rich in thought and logical in their arrangement, the com- 
position is left (purposely, it would appear) unfinished. Definitions- 
and exegetical remarks are generally written out with studious 
accuracy and precision ; but the occurrence, on almost every page, 
of broken hints, followed by a significant dash of the pen, indicates 
the orator's impatience of the trammels and tedium of previous 
composition, and the stirring of deep emotion within the breast 
that could find full vent only amid the hallowed excitements of 
the sanctuary. He did not offer to God of that which cost him 
nothing j but it was the altar that sanctified his gift, and the fire 
that consumed his sacrifice issued immediately from the propi- 
tious heavens." 

The celebrated poet, James Montgomery, Esq., than whom no- 
man living is more competent to form a just estimate of literary 
merit, on examining a part of the MS. sermons (chiefly the sketch- 
es), thus writes :f " I went with critical scrutiny through nearly 
one hundred sketches of sermons, in his own handwriting j and 
I give it as my deliberate conviction, that though they were very 
unlike what I had anticipated from a fervent, fearless, self-sacri- 
ficing preacher, the delight of wondering, weeping, and admiring 
audiences wherever he went, they were, in one main respect, far 
superior, being calculated less for instant effect than for abiding' 
usefulness. Though but studies, they are, nevertheless, exceeding- 
ly methodical in plan ; and in execution they are distinguished 

* Rev. Matthew Richey, in a note in the Life of the Rev. William Black. 
+ See Holland's Life of Summerfield, page 11. 



INTRODUCTION. Xlli 

chiefly by sound doctrine, exact judgment, and severe abstinence 
from ornament. Such ornament, however, as does occur, is often 
exquisite ', and from being occasionally interpolated (as after 
thoughts), I cannot doubt that, in uttering these condensed com- 
positions at spontaneous length, illustrations the most lively and 
beautiful sprang in like manner out of the subject, when the 
preacher himself was full to overflowing, yet filling the faster the 
more he overflowed. 

" And this was the right kind of preparation for one who al- 
ways had words at command, but whose feelings commanded him. 
He came to the pulpit with the whole scheme of his discourse 
clearly and succinctly marked out in his mind. Then, when in- 
deed he was ' in the spirit,' warmed, exalted, and inspired with the 
divinity of his theme, the chain of premeditated ideas, link by link, 
in seemingly extemporaneous succession, would be developed, 
while every thought, emotion, and appeal would body itself forth 
in the most vivid and appropriate language. Then truly would 
his bow abide in strength, and every shaft which he sent from 
the string, like the arrow of Acestes of old, would take fire in its 
flight, shine through the clouds, and vanish in the immensity of 
heaven. 

"But as the Sabbath and the sanctuary were the day and the 
place of resurrection when his closet skeletons, thus clothed upon, 
became living, breathing, speaking oracles, the retrogression into 
their original forms would be proportionately to the preacher's 
disadvantage. Hearers, who had been rapt towards the third heav- 
en in the fiery chariot of his delivery, and almost seemed to hear 
' things which it was not lawful for man to utter,' when they af- 
terward became readers at home of the few faint outlines, how- 
ever symmetrical and harmonious, would scarcely recognise their 
shadowy resemblance to the glorious apparitions which had gone 
by, never to be renewed except with the presence, the eye, and 
the voice of the preacher himself. In fact, every attempt to pre- 
sent on paper the splendid effects of impassioned eloquence, is 
like gathering up dew-drops, which appear jewels and pearls on 
the grass, but run to water in the hand ; the essence and the 
elements remain, but the grace, the sparkle, and the form are 
gone." 

The reader, we hope, will find, upon perusing these precious re- 
mains of the beloved Summerfield's pulpit labours, that although 
"the grace, the sparkle, and the form" of the dew-drops are 
gone, the water which remains is living water, clear, pure, satis- 
fying ; — as it ever issues from that fountain that springeth up into 
everlasting life. 
1 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
INTRODUCTION V 

SERMON I. 

the lord loveth the gates of zion {Preach- 
ed at the Opening of a New Chapel) . Ps. lxxxvii., 2 . . 9 

SERMON II. 
be careful for nothing Phil., iv., 6,7.. 15 

SERMON III. 

the dignity and office of the christian 

ministry 2 Cor., v., 20 . . 22 

SERMON IV. 
spiritual idolatry Hos., iv., 17 . . . 28 

SERMON V. 
the saviour interceding Hel., vii., 25 . . . 34 

SERMON VI. 

THE RACE FOR GLORY Hel., XH., 1, 2 . . 45 

SERMON VII. 
special salvation 1 Tim., iv., 10 . . 55 

SERMON VIII. 

the righteous and their reward ... . Ps. lviii., 2 . . . 58 

SERMON IX. 

THE PRESENT OBSCURITY AND FUTURE GLORY OF 

the righteous (A Funeral Discourse) . Matt., xiii. , 43 . . 62 

SERMON X. 
the proud abased and the humble exalted 

(to Children) 1 Pet., v., 5 . . . 67 



XVI CONTENTS. 

SERMON XL 

Page 
service for god always rewarded {Preached 

on the Occasion of commencing the Erec- 
tion of a New Chapel in Dublin) . . . Ezeh., xxix., 17-20 72 

SERMON XII. 

pure religion (Preached in behalf of the Or- 
phan Asylum in Dublin) Jam., L, 27 . . . 82 

SERMON XIII. 
christian courtesy 1 Pet., iii., 8 . . 97 

SERMON XIV. 

WE ARE VERILY GUILTY CONCERNING OUR BROTH- 
ER (A Missionary Discourse) .... Gen., xlii., 21 . . 106 

SERMON XV. 

THE NEEDFUL CAUTION 2 Cor., VL, 1 . . 113 

SERMON XVI. 
peace I leave with you John, xiv., 27 . . 119 

SERMON XVII. 
the believer's hope 1 Pet., i., 3-5 . . 127 

SERMON XVIII. 

THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH Isai., XL, 10 . . . 132 

SERMON XIX. 

an incentive to early piety (to Children) . Prov., viii., 17 . . 137 

SERMON XX. 
the believer longing after immortality . 2 Cor., v., 1-4 . . 141 

SERMON XXI. 
the duties of the day performed in the day 

(Preached in behalf of Sunday-schools) John, ix., 4 . . . 143 

SERMON XXII. 

the triumph of the gospel (A Missionary 

Sermon) Hah., ii., 14 . . . 157 

SERMON XXIII. 

isaiah's vision Isai., vi., 1-8 . . 165 



CONTENTS. XVU 

SERMON XXIV. 

Pago 

the minister's request 1 Thess., v., 25 . . 171 

SERMON XXV. 

the divine requisition Prov., xxiii., 26 . 176 

SERMON XXVI. 
religion first Luke, xii., 31 . . 180 

SERMON XXVII. 
paul in A strait (The Author's last Sermon) . Phil., i., 23 . . . 185 

SERMON XXVIII. 

THE VALLEY OF DEATH OPENING TO LIFE AND IM- 
MORTALITY Ps. xxiii., 4, 5 . . 190 

SERMON XXIX. 
the sower Matt., xiii., 1-9 . 193 

SERMON XXX. 

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION Heb., VL, 1 . . . 199 

SERMON XXXI. 
god's love to a perishing world .... John, iii., 16 . . . 206 

SERMON XXXII. 
the heavenly glory (a Farewell Discourse) . Ps. xvi., 11 . . . 210 

SERMON XXXIII. 
god in his sanctuary Isai., iv., 5 . . . 214 

SERMON XXXIV. 

pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Preached 

during Session of Conference) . . . Ps. cxxii., 6 . . . 217 

SERMON XXXV. 

OH THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM . . Jol, XXUL, 3, 4 . . 221 

SERMON XXXVI. 
the progress of vice 2 Kings, viii., 13 . 227 

SERMON XXXVII. 
the heavenly inheritance 2 Pet., i., 11. . . 230 

SERMON XXXVIII. 

A christian feast (Preached at Easter Fes- 
tival Luke, xlv., 13, 14 . 240 



XVlll CONTENTS. 

SERMON XXXIX. 

Page 

the second commandment (a Charity Sermon) Matt., xxii., 39 . . 247 

SERMON XL. 

THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCLOSED AND JUDGED . Rom., \L, 18 . . . 255 

SERMON XLI. 

THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED Phil., Hi., 21 . . . 259 

SERMON XLII. 

THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN . Ps. Ixiii., 8 . . . 266 

SERMON XLIII. 

CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY Gal., Vi., 2 . . . 271 

SERMON XLIV. 
Messiah's peaceful reign (Missionary Dis- 
course) Isai., xi., 9 . . . 275 

SERMON XLV. 
Paul's resolve 1 Cor., ii., 2 . . . 280 

SERMON XLVI. 

CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH . . . Ps. CX., 1~3 . . . 286 

SERMON XLVII. 
the child samuel (to Children) 1 Sam., iii., 10 . . 297 

SERMON XLVIII. 
the counsels of a dying father (to Children) 1 Chron., xxviii., 9 302 

SERMON XLIX. 

the christian's inheritance 1 Cor., iii., 22, 23 . 308 

SERMON L. 

JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST . . . Hel., iv., 15, 16 . . 314 

SERMON LI. 

ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST Rom., VlH., 32 . . 320 

/ SERMON LII. 

THE STRONG HOLD Zecll., ix., 12 . . 325 

SERMON LIII. 

THE FAR OFF MADE NIGH EpIieS., U., 13 . . 331 



CONTENTS. XIX 

SERMON LIV. 

Page 

THE KING OF zion Mic., v., 2-4 . . . 334 

SERMON LV. 
the crowning grace 1 Cor., xiii., 13 . . 340 

SERMON LVI. 

caution to hearers Luke, vii., 18 . . 345 

SERMON LVIL 

the beloved disciple John, xiii., 23 . . 346 

SERMON LVIII. 

THE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH (A Sun- 

day -school Sermon) Matt., xviii., 10 . . 347 

SERMON LIX. 

THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD (A 

Missionary Discourse) Isai., lxii., 1 . . . 351 

SERMON LX. 

THE BELIEVER IN DARKNESS Isai., 1., 10 . . . 356 

SERMON LXI. 

APOSTOLIC PREACHING Col., 1., 20 . . . 35$ 

SERMON LXII. 

THE CLOSE IMITATOR . 1 Cor., XI. f 1 . . 36S 

SERMON LXIII. {Second Discourse.) 

THE CUP OF SALVATION Ps. CXVJ., 12, 14 . 365 

SERMON LXIV. 
GOSPEL HOLINESS Phil, i., 8-1 1 . . 370 

SERMON LXV. 

GOSPEL HOLINESS PML, h, 11 . . . 374 

SERMON LXVI. 
peter's apostacy Jjahe, xxii., 61, 62 . 379 

SERMON LXVII. 

THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED Isal, Xl., 1 . . . 381 

SERMON LXVIII. 

THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION . James, V., 19, 20 . 386 



XX CONTENTS. 

SERMON LXIX. 

•^ ... « Page 

THE SOLEMN ASSERTION Rom., Vlll., 8 . . 390 

SERMON LXX. 

THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCES OF THE GOSPEL 1 Tim., i., 2 . . . 393 

SERMON LXXI. 
the christian race Heb., xii., I, 2 . . 397 

SERMON LXXII. 

thou art weighed in the balances . . . Dan., v., 27 . . . 398 

SERMON LXXIII. 

glorying in the cross (.1 Missionary Sermon) Gal., vi., 14 . . . 399 

SERMON LXXIV. 
confession of sin 1 John, i., 9 . . . 405 

SERMON LXXV. 

TALENTS MISIMPROVED RESUMED BY THE OWNER Matt., XXV., 29 . . 410 

SERMON LXXVI. 

GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS . . Zecfl., iv., 10 . . 415 

SERMON LXXVIL 

NEED OF PATIENCE Hel., X., 36 . . . 421 

SERMON LXXVIIL 

THE BLESSEDNESS ©F A STABLE MIND .... Isai., XXVL, 3 . . 424 

SERMON LXXIX. 
a friend at court Hel., iv., 14 . . , 428 

SERMON LXXX. 
the way of holiness Isai., xxxv., 8-10 . 434 

SERMON LXXXI. 

A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD Heb., IV., 11 . . . 435 

SERMON LXXXII. 

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT Rev., XX., 11-15 . 436 



SERMONS. 



SERMON I. 

THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION. 

PREACHED AT THE OPENING OF A NEW CHAPEL. 

Psalm Ixxxvii., 2. — The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of 

Jacob. 

" "Walk about Zion, count her towers, consider her pala- 
ces, that ye may tell it to the generation following :" " glo- 
rious things are spoken of her ;" one of the most glorious 
forms our text. " God hates nothing that he has made ;" 
" he is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his 
works ;" " he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked," 
bestows ten thousand blessings on the evil, and is in many 
respects the Saviour of all ! He loves with forbearance even 
the ungodly ; loves the awakened with tender pity ; the obe- 
dient believer with delight : for saints are lovely in his sight. 
These he loves as individuals, these he regards as families. 
But their public assemblies do most honour him, and on 
them he bestows most honour. " The Lord loveth the gates 
of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." 

I. Illustrate this fact. 
II. Discover its meaning. 
III. Endeavour to draw forth its practical good. 

L Illustrate this fact. 

1. Ever since men began to multiply, God has been soli- 
citous to provide places of public worship ; solitary religion 
is unknown in the history of the Church ; everywhere God 
has caused places to be erected in which to meet, render 
thanks, and ask those things which are needful (Liturgy). 
See his directions to the patriarchs for social altars ; see the 
Mosaic table (the pattern by God himself) ; see his provi- 

B 



10 THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OP ZION. 

dence in the case of David, by which he was enabled to col- 
lect materials for building the Temple ; see Solomon's ex- 
traordinary endowments — Providence. Josephus relates 
that, during the rebuilding of the Temple by Herod the Great, 
no rain fell but in the night. In the Christian Church we 
find the apostles selected the best situations to establish 
places of worship. Though the early Christians were com- 
pelled to meet in dens and caves, cellars and garrets, and 
often at dead of night, yet they always had some place, and, 
as soon as the cross supplanted the eagle, they built splen- 
did temples to adore God. Thus the practice is kept up : 
it is God's voice. 

2. A second illustration of the fact is found in the induce- 
ment held out to his servants to occupy them when erected ; 
every possible inducement contrived — exhausted the ingenu- 
ity of Infinite Wisdom. 

1. See the solemn injunction — not optional, and it is en- 
joined upon us as well as upon the Jews. " The lion goeth 
about seeking to devour" the scattered sheep : not those in 
the common fold, but those who have no bond of associa- 
tion, no common interest. " See that ye forsake not the as- 
sembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, 
but exhort one another daily, and so much the more as ye 
see the day approaching," the day of persecution : wo to 
him that falleth alone in the day of nature's sorrow and dis- 
solution, with none to sympathize and pray. 

2. But the subject is urged by a promise : " Where two 
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them:" my eyes shall be there, my heart shall 
be there, touched by the feelings of their infirmities, moved 
in pity. " I will clothe my ministers with salvation, and my 
people shall shout aloud for joy." (Enlarge on the minis- 
ter and the garment able to wrap them all — we hear words 
whereby we may be saved.) Jesus the Saviour, to the ut- 
termost, in time and in eternity. — " Behold, we bring glad 
tidings," is the import of our message. 

3. God has exerted a remarkable Providence in illustra- 
tion of this fact. Shishak, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, 
Antiochus, and a host of others who dared to provoke and 



THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION. 11 

disturb God's worship. What monuments of his anger ! 
How awfully did they die ! In modern times, in the civil 
wars kindled by religious contests, how were many places 
of religious worship profaned ! but what judgments on the 
violators! History — in more modern times — revival by 
"Wesley and Whitfield — when enemies arose — the history 
of our own Church will furnish you with awful examples ! 
God has astonishingly protected places of worship and wor- 
shipping people ! How many millions attend, some in car- 
riages, some on foot, some through drifts of snow and rain 
% # # # (Limerick), and even then the places not commo- 
dious ; yet how few have foimd their death there, or were 
killed in going or returning. How seldom is a church con- 
sumed by fire or lightning ! It is a Providence ! there can 
be no other solution — same always — see the Jews, when 
they went up three times a year to worship, surrounded by 
enemies, left their boundaries unprotected ; no soldier be- 
hind ; yet no instance of being invaded by enemies while 
worshipping. — (Grace Hill.) 

God has astonishingly rewarded the patrons of houses of 
worship. Your parents, poor many of them, but wherever 
two or three went, they would have a house for God. God 
blessed them, so that no persons increased in wealth so 
rapidly. Then they built more ; they always would have a 
house for him, and God rewarded them. Their children 
now rise up and call them blessed ! So in old times, see 
David — even more so his son Solomon : certainly he be- 
came a fool, but this was his own fault. God tells us why 
he blessed : one built the house, and the other had it in his 
heart. Many other facts illustrate. 

II. Discover its meaning. The reason of this preference 
— this paramount love. Why ? 

1. We may find a reason in the people that assemble 
there ; not that we have a claim in justice. Who assemble 
here generally ? Not gangs of thieves, not merciless assas- 
sins, the seditious and treasonable who meet at midnight ; 
not those who prowl our streets at the dead hour, and sell 
their body, soul, and glory ; not the foul adulterer, whose eye 
waits for the twilight ; not the staggering drunkard, whose 



12 THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZTOHV 

brutal gratification is the abolition of his senses ; these are 
not in general here. Here assemble docile youth, sisters^ 
wives, mothers,, fathers, industrious mechanics, loyal sub- 
jects ; men who are either saved from sin or come inqui- 
ring ; either are virtuous or desire to become so. God be- 
holds these with: approbation, and loves the place in which 
they meet. 

2. Another reason may be found: in the exercises perform-* 
ed there.. It is that tbey pray, and sing, and listen to the 
tidings of salvation ; they hear his law promulged, Gospel 
preached, ordinances are administered ; God is glorified, 
man blessed, and God loves the exercises. 

3. Another reason is, the good done there, the ignorant 
instructed, profligate reclaimed, guilty pardoned, unholy re- 
newed, miserable made happy, vicious reformed, pious en- 
couraged and instructed ; more, heaven is brought down to 
earth, and earth: raised to heaven. Now God is love ; and 
he cannot behold these without sharing' at least in the joy of 
angels F Nay r farther, it is in the house of God that the 
stone of movent is dropped in mercy's pool, which makes 
its widened circles till all may be healed. In these places 
all our charitable institutions arise. Sunday and Charity 
schools, Tract, Bible, and Missionary societies had their 
origin here. To plead the cause of these,, ministers are 
never backward ; the materials of all our charities were 
provided by the preaching of the Gospel. I have often 
wondered how the ingenuity of charity can invent so many^ 
charity is infinite. British wealth is without end, and Brit- 
ish charity equal to it ; and who can tell how many more 
are in embryo, warming into life m our churches-, some 
may spring forth here. 

4. Another reason is, the glory that redounds to Mm : but 
he takes it well, and chiefly as it redounds again to us-. 
"■ "Whoso offer eth praise glorifieth me, and to him that or- 
dereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of 
God" — The lisping praise of the Sunday-schools F * * 

III. Endeavour to draw forth its practical good. 

1. If God so love them, so should we. Are we not called 



THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZIOK. 13 

tG be imitators of him ? Should we not love this better than 
our own ? The Jews are reproved for dwelling in ceiled 
houses while the house of G-od lay desolate. I imagine God 
commends you in now erecting a more splendid house. * * 

2. Attend worship ; and do not be so lavish in your ex- 
penses at home as to leave nothing for God's house ; do not 
love your own home too well on a cold winter's evening,; 
suffer no frivolous excuse to detain you. Who are they that 
flourish in Zion ? Are they those who once in six months 
or so enter the temples of the Lord ? Are they old trees, 
that by a stimulus such as oratory come out, but not else ? 
No ; they that are planted in the house of the Lord, they are 
•still fat and flourishing in old age. 

But what inducements to attend ? Why, where should 
subjects love to be but in the presence-chamber of their 
sovereign ? Do not kiss his hand as a courtier. He is thy 
Lord, and adore thou him. Where should the spouse be but 
where the husband is ? The Lord is thy husband ! Where 
■do the children love to be but where the parents are ? God 
is your Father : " If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask 
him -?" Where should the indigent and wretched be but at 
the mansions of the benevolent and great ? We are poor, 
and our wants recur daily; the impressions wear away; 
come again. 

But mind with what affections we attend the house of 
<3rod ; beasts -might come, but they would be no better. 

1. Come in a Christian spirit — with holy reverence — let 
there be no trifling; these are gross indecencies here and 
awful affronts. " Keep thy foot from being taken," for he 
is great and thou art little ; he is just and thou art guilty ^ he 
he is Almighty and thou a worm ; who, if angry, can crush 
thee ; who can also elevate thee to the dignity of angels. 

2. Attend it with desire. " Blessed are they which do 
hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be fill- 
ed." Divine mercies are too rich to be thrown away ontri- 
flers ; as soon might you feed a dog with Bibles ; there must 
fee a congeniality ; come desiring, praying, bringing the word 
to the heart, 

2 



14 THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION. 

3. Should we not come with delight to meet the heralds 
of salvation, who ever breathe a sweet odour, willing to im- 
part their souls to us, to meet our Christian brethren and sis- 
ters ? "As iron sharpeneth iron, so the countenance of a 
man his friend." To meet the angels of God, who on Ja- 
cob's ladder descend with blessings and ascend with tidings-. 
To meet God, the Saviour, the Holy Ghost } the fragrant 
breeze from heaven's spicy throne ! to find heaven nearer. 
Are not these circumstances delightful ? or how grovelling 
our taste if by these our spirits are not touched ;. yea, wound 
up with rapture : "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." 
" My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God* 
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts !" 

Finally. Countenance and support the public worship of 
God to the uttermost. Do it for God's sake, and thus testify 
your gratitude. For your neighbours' sake ; many will not 
mind it, but surely one Magdalene will come in at this door. 
To some one it will be said, " Thy sins, which are many, are 
forgiven." Look forward, see how it is serving the public 
when a prodigal comes in at the door {your own son per- 
chance) on a dark night : " Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called 
thy son," And this repeated for scores of years to come. 
Do something now to ensure this ; fancy you see through 
the vista of time, hundreds of years hence ; one singles out 
one and another by happy spirits, as the fruit of this chapel. 
Do it for your own sakes. — No man can dislike to come to 
this fine house. And when truth begins to be feeble in your 
mind, and you fall by temptation, come here ; it will be a 
delightful repast. 

Do it for posterity. " One generation passeth away and 
another cometh." You must die ! " A good man leaveth an 
inheritance to his children's children," and what recollection 
can more delightfully play round the heart when throbbing 
its last ? It will be a rose to perfume the dying bed. Feel, 
then, for your children. There is one advantage in a Meth- 
odist chapel ; a conference deed. In it are recorded, and 
put under the broad shield of the constitution, every glorious 



BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 15 

doctrine of the blessed God ! Here then is a certainty of 
perpetuity of good ; no preacher (if one could be found 
wicked enough) can alter the doctrines delivered here. * 

^v ^F tm> vF vF -?? •& 

I have been deeply interested in this ; it is an era in my pil- 
grimage ; and I am so delighted that I can truly say, 
" Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to 
thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." You 
who have co-operated with us in this good work, accept our 
thanks, and may the God of peace bless you with all spir- 
itual blessings in Christ Jesus. * .• * - * 

•£lm «&«. •!£. »J£. Jf. Ji *U. 

•JF -Ti* -7F *7F "fi> "ft* "fl* 

You have kept the best wine, I hope, to the last ; pour it 
out ; do it cheerfully. Now choose for yourselves how 
much God shall bless you. % % % 



SERMON II. 

BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 

Philippians, iv., 6, 7. — Be careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and 
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts 
and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing ; as poor, yet making 
many rich ; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things, 
was Paul's motto. No man knows this in theory. Great 
were the troubles and sorrows he had to encounter. They 
increased upon him ; but if he had increase of sorrows, he 
had increase of joy. Jesus Christ always caused him to 
triumph in every place, and hence he could say to his dear 
Philippians, " Rejoice in the Lord alway," in every trial. 
With the eye of his faith contemplating the yet greater suf- 
ferings they should be called to endure, he says, " Let your 
moderation be known unto all men." It is difficult to ex- 
press in one English word the force of the original, " the 
yielding up of yourselves." The sturdy oak, which has stood 
the shocks of two hundred years, meets at last with a tem- 
pest unusually violent ; refusing to yield to the storm, it is 



16 BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 

shivered by the lightning or torn up by the tempest ; but 
the gentle willow bends to the blast and is saved ; this is 
the idea : as though the apostle had said, now do not be 
stubborn under your persecutions ; it will but increase the 
fury of your enemies ; but bend, yield yourselves; let all 
your enemies see it; it will be the most effectual way; the 
storm will blow over you, you shall not suffer by the blast, 
" The Lord is at hand f he is just at the door, waiting to 
avenge his own elect. Stubborn resistance has always fed 
the monster persecution. But they might reply, " Is not suf- 
fering, suffering still ? Can we be insensible under it ? We 
cannot but feel." Now the apostle says, " Be careful for no- 
thing ; but in everything by prayer and supplication with 
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

" And the peace of God, which passeth all understand- 
ing, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' ? 

In these words we have pointed out to us one of the great- 
est evils of the human heart, and also its cure. The evil is 
an incessant concern for our temporal affairs ; that over- 
thoughtfulness which our Lord so pointedly condemns in 
his Sermon on the Mount. " Take no thought for your life,, 
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your 
body what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meaty 
and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls of the air ; 
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; 
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much 
better than they ? Which of you, by taking thought, can add 
one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought for 
raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; 
they toil not, neither do- they spin : and yet I say unto you 
that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one 
of these." — The Greek means, " tear your heart from it ; 17 
rend your heart from these earthly tendons which bind it ; 
loosen these bands. This is one of the greatest evils of the 
human heart, and most difficult to extract. (Was it not the 
greatest sin of the Israelites ?) Its evil consists in three 
things. 

1. The dishonour it reflects on God as the moral governor 
of the universe. It distrusts his care of his own ; and the 



BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 17 

man who cannot trust his God as the God of Providence, 
will not trust him as the God of grace. " Are not two 
sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fall 
on the ground without your Father." 

2. In its effects on yourself. Though it is certain it can 
produce no good effect nor add a cubit to the stature, yet it 
is indulged in, and it corrodes in the mind ; having its seat 
in the heart, the centre, it spreads its influence over the sys- 
tem ; and I believe ninety-nine out of one hundred of un- 
happy maniacs were produced by this ; not to speak of the 
thousands cut down in their eagerness of worldly pursuits, 
destroying soul and body together. 

3. In its effects towards others. The passion of envy is 
excited by this ; I envy in others something which my cov- 
etous heart desires. I hate the person possessing it, and am 
therefore a murderer in my heart, and accounted as one by 
Him who searches the heart. Thus it leads to suicide and 
murder, as well as dishonouring God. 

Now, blessed be God, there is a cure for this. 

II. Be careful for nothing'. As if he had said, look with- 
in ; abstract yourself from the creature ; retire from the 
world and into yourself ; let the matter lie between God and 
you ; let no third person be concerned ; call not in the world 
as the umpire ; you will need none ; you will both be of the 
same mind ; " joined to him, you will be of one spirit with 
the Lord ;" nay, instead of calling in the world as the um- 
pire, you shall overcome the world, put your neck on it, and 
slay your dire, indwelling enemy. What, then, is the rem- 
edy prescribed by him who daily proved it ? " Be careful 
for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and supplication 
with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto 
God." Your heavenly Father careth for you. 

" Let your request be made known unto God /" Oh ! how 
often have you refused this advice ; you have scattered your 
cares to the four winds, or you have hid them in your own 
heart ; you have permitted the worm to feed upon the bud ; 
perhaps you have thought, I cer do nothing else. The wife 
has said, oh ! if I had a religious husband, how would I 

C 



18 BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 

blend my soul with his ; but, alas for me, he has no religious 
sympathy ! or the husband says, oh ! if my wife were a help- 
meet, what solace should I have ! while the child exclaims, 
oh ! if my parents were but godly ! But if you have not 
found sympathy in the domestic circle, probably you have 
unbosomed yourself to a friend ; it may be he was a worldly 
friend, and he suffered you to show him your bleeding heart, 
and yet refused you any sympathizing balm ! You leaned 
on earth, but the reed broke ! You leaned on earth, but 
the spear pierced you more and more, making a deeper and 
yet deeper wound. But suppose your friend be sincere, yet 
he cannot go with you far enough ; he may walk part of the 
gloomy path, but as the clouds gather he leaves you. There 
is a point at which all human friendships terminate : "I can 
go no farther with my friend." There is none you can get 
to enter into your soul ; the workings of secret anxiety and 
its sorrowful forebodings are too big for utterance ; you 
have apprehensions which you cannot explain. 

But, thank God, " there is a friend that sticketh closer 
than a brother," and he allows you to come to him when all 
human joys have fled. There is a wonderful effect pro- 
duced by human sympathies ; and shall not a greater effect 
be produced by Divine ? He can be " touched !" the God- 
man, your brother ! " His bowels melt with love." He 
sees the whole soul naked and open ; he hears the inexpli- 
cable groan, and enters into all your feelings, for he knows 
whereof you are made. I fear we do not sufficiently value a 
throne of grace ; we rather tell our sorrows to any one than 
Him ! and yet see his love ! " Can a woman forget her 
sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the 
son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not for- 
get thee ;" and see how great the condescension ; he stoops 
to ask your friendship ! and it is the very nature of Divine 
friendships to have no reserves. 

" In prayer." No other way of approaching him; no 
other means will do ; it is only prayer that throws off the 
load. Prayer, says Chrysostom, is the flight of the soul into 
the bosom of God ! Yes ; the dove is pursued, dangers in- 
crease, no possibility of escape is left ; but she flies into the 






BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 19 

breast of her Lord ; there she is safe. It is in this exercise 
alone the Christian is conqueror. Satan can blind in any 
other way, but a soul engaged with the Deity, talking with 
him face to face, presents a sight which Satan shudders to 
behold ; he can throw no cloud between, nor any mound to 
eclipse his glory : the soul at audience with the Deity ! here 
it is strong ! here it is conqueror ! Jesus sympathizes, and 
carries the cross with him. Strong in the Lord, we rise from 
our knees, saying, we will not fear what man can do unto us, 
for the Lord God is our strength. 

" And supplication." Prayer brings the plea, supplication 
urges it ; the soul brings the request to God, and refuses to 
withdraw it ; though it may not be immediately granted, 
yet it is urged again and again. God often permits this ; he 
will try your faith ; he will appear as though he heard you 
not ; he will put you off a long time. " But shall not God 
avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, 
though he bear long with them ?" He will often bear long, 
and perhaps your faith begins to fail and hope expire while 
you cry, " O Lord, hoiv long ?" Yes ; he may suffer you to 
collect the wood, to ascend the mount, to build the altar, to 
lay the wood in order ; nay, to bind your Isaac, and even 
stretch forth your hand to slay your son ! he may try you to 
the uttermost I But though he bear long, he will avenge 
them ! when your faith is unshaken, even " though the fig- 
tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the 
labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall 
be no herd in the stalls ; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will 
joy in the God of my salvation ;" he will deliver. He may 
refuse the widow's cry for a long time, but he will deliver 
her at last ; his name is yet Jehovah-jireh : when the last 
extremity was come a ram was caught in the thicket : 

" God hears their sighs and counts their tears, 
And shall lift up their head." 

" With thanksgiving :" gratitude in the heart. This should 
always accompany our prayers ; indeed, the very privilege 
of addressing him ought to inspire this ! it is implied in pray- 
er ; prayer has always for its foundation the promises of 



20 BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 

God ! and these very promises are matter of ceaseless 
thanksgiving (it also is a cause of thanksgiving that our case 
is no worse). 

" In everything." Perhaps you say, in things of great 
moment I do unbosom my soul to him, and my griefs ; but 
in small trials I count it presumption. God looks not at your 
griefs in this comparative way ; it is man's to compare things 
with one another, it is God's to see things as they are ; he 
never compares them. Many believe in a general, but deny 
a particular, Providence ; yet this is absurd, for the general 
is made up of particulars, as particles form the aggregate. 
He looks not on things as little or as great. He is careful 
of the least of his creatures as well as of the high archangel 
next his throne; in him they all live, and he loves every- 
thing that he has made ! Hear what himself says : " Are 
not five sparrows sold for two farthings ? and yet not one 
of these little birds is forgotten before God." But he goes 
lower, and counts it no degradation of his majesty to inter- 
est himself in the most perishable substances : Look at the 
lily, void of life, a fading flower ; yet my Father clothes the 
lilies of the field ! Could he go lower ? Yes, he has de- 
scended to the lowest ; a very hair of my head — so insigni- 
ficant a thing — cannot perish without him ! they are all 
numbered ! " He sees the hero and the sparrow fall !" 

Will you, after this, talk of little trials, unworthy of his 
notice ? O ! be not deceived by voluntary humility. Carry 
them all; in everything. 

But other reasons might be assigned. Little things are 
often of the greatest importance ; some of the mightiest rev- 
olutions in the civil or religious world have begun with little 
things ; and so important does God behold little things,that, 
to encourage the sincere seeker after his love, though yet 
unable to discern the light, " he will not despise the day of 
small things." A little sin will damn a soul — a little grace 
employed will raise to glory. — His kingdom commenced as 
a grain of mustard seed — a little leaven, &c. A little care 
kept in the heart will corrupt as a canker. 

"And the peace of God" &c. Go and learn what that 
means. It passes human understanding because it is the 



BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING. 21 

peace of God, and is of his own nature. This will keep the 
heart in peace, for it is stayed on God and trusts in his word. 
The storm of worldly care or anxiety must bow to His power 
who said to the natural elements, "Peace, be still:'' 1 and 
there will be a great peace — a great calm j the winds and 
the sea will obey him ! No worldly care will keep its 
reign when Jesus fills the breast ! And oh I how great the 
change ! peace of God ! Though the highest hills of earthly 
hopes are covered ; though the mountain tops should not be 
seen, yet the ark is above the water floods ; and in that ark 
the soul finds rest. But how shall I express the change ! it 
is unspeakable ; when it takes possession, 

" Not a wave of trouble rolls 
Actoss this peaceful breast." 

" Shall keep 11 &c. A military term : our hymn says, sur- 
round, sustain, and strengthen. It will keep as a fortress ; 
it will be the guard of your hearts and minds, your affec- 
tions and understandings ; everything which can affect your 
spiritual estate ; and as to your bodies, though the storm 
might rise so high as to crush the tabernacle of your devoted 
spirit — as in Stephen's case — yet heaven shall open before 
you. 

" Through Christ Jesus 17 Here is the centre ; here we 
are at rest. It is surprising how the apostle continually re- 
volves round this glorious sun. Though in certain parts of 
his orbit he may appear to leave it, it is but for a moment. 
Jesus is all his theme, and he literally knows nothing else 
but Jesus, and him crucified. (See Morgan.) Your prayers 
and supplications are to go to God, but it is through Christ ; 
it is his altar sanctifies the gift : your thanksgivings go to him 
likewise, but he is the sanctifier even of them. The peace 
of God then returns through the same medium — by Christ 
Jesus. * # * Now here is the evil ; here, too, is the cure? 
and it shall not fail ; for St. Paul, who had tried and proved 
every truth of God, says it shall keep. If you make the ven- 
ture on this truth, it shall make you free : free from all dis- 
traction, you will be careful for nothing. 

** Commit thou all thy griefs, 
Hope and be undismayed." 



22 DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

J preach to suffering saints, for they are always to be found 
in greater abundance than any other character except sin- 
ners. I pray God that St. Paul's motto may be yours ; and 
thus I end as I began. 



SEKMON III. 

THE DIGNITY AND OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN MIN- 
ISTRY. 

2 Corinthians, v., 20. — Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
did beseech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

I. The Dignity. 
II. The office of the Christian Ministry. 

I. " Ambassadors for God" An ambassador is a person 
sent by a sovereign power to treat with some people or na- 
tion on matters of the highest importance ; he represents the 
majesty of the country from which he is so sent. This is 
beautifully applied to the ministers of Christ, and will bear 
some analogy. 

1. The ambassadors of a human prince must be the well- 
tried friends of the kingdom they represent. A monarch 
would send no other ; much less would he choose him out of 
the number of his enemies. The interest of the king and 
kingdom must lie near his heart, or how can he hope for suc- 
cess. 

So with the ambassador of heaven ! he must be the well- 
tried friend of God ! An immoral clergy were never sent 
by God ; they are enemies to his kingdom, and he would 
not employ them as negotiators. His ambassadors have 
often to apply for advice in difficult cases ; but who shall 
for this purpose ascend, like Moses, into the hill of the Lord ? 
Even he only who has clean hands and a pure heart ! To 
any others he says, what have you to do to profane my 
name ? — ye make my people to err. He who has not been 
the well-tried friend of God, and whose heart is not filled 
with that melting and bleeding compassion which is possess- 
ed by the majesty he professes to represent, towards the 
creature, is not the ambassador of God. 



DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 23 

2. The ambassador must be well conversant with the in- 
stitutes of the kingdom he represents, its constitution and its 
laws. The original word for ambassador is presbuteroi, el- 
ders : they are not to be novices in Divine things ; no earthly 
king sends such. 

3. He must be accredited ; he must have the seals of of- 
fice, and be able to give satisfactory testimonials from the 
king he represents. So the ambassador of God; he is 
God's immediate minister ; from Him he derives his com- 
mission, and His credentials he must produce. The out- 
ward separation to the ministry by ordination is but mail's 
work, and supposes the previous appointment of God. Oh ! 
how solemn the declaration, " I am inwardly moved by the 
Holy Ghost to take this office and ministry." The call, 
then, is of God ; and, without such a call, man's appoint- 
ment is of no efficacy. It was an evil day for the Church 
when any others were appointed to the ministry than such 
as were thus moved. Human learning is useful to the Chris- 
tian minister ; it facilitates his ministry, and should be at- 
tended to ; but it is not absolutely indispensable. I do not 
condemn it ; but I condemn its being substituted for Divine 
knowledge, and made the only qualification for admission to 
the most sacred office. (See Morgan.) They are not the 
credentials of human literature which he is to display, but 
rather the seal of the Holy Ghost — his commission from God. 
The Holy Ghost must inwardly move him to that great work ; 
and any minister who has not this broad seal of Heaven upon 
his credentials is a hypocrite ; he shall have his reward here, 
but the punishment hereafter. 

4. Some ambassadors are sent plenipotentiary to other 
courts ; invested with full powers to do as they see fitting in 
any case ; and their act, being regarded as the act of the 
monarch, is binding. But these are exempt cases ; they gen- 
erally have the line of their duty prescribed to them, and 
they cannot go beyond it ; unlimited powers are not put into 
their hands. So the ambassador of* Christ. He has the line 
of duty marked out and its boundaries prescribed, and he 
dare not add to or diminish from it : the monarch whom he 
represents cannot be affected by human contingencies ; he 



24 DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

has made provision for every case, and not one word or iota 
needs adding to, or expunging from, the rule laid down. 
The apostles, indeed, appeared sometimes as plenipotentia- 
ries : circumstances in their day required it ; but the sacred 
canon being now completed under the inspiration of God, 
we have not power to traverse out of it. * * * * 
No church (Roman), therefore, has power to add or vary 
anything in the Christian faith unless she prove by miracles 
that she has the right : no infringement was ever made on 
any dispensation without this witness, and these miracles 
must exceed any that have preceded them. Till this proof 
is given, we have a right to bring their credos and auto daps 
to this test, and reject as spurious the rubbish of human in- 
vention ; for we dare not be of the number of those who cor- 
rupt the word of God. 

Now we inquire, first, What is the cause of all this ? 
" All things are of God." 1. Actually. 2. Meritoriously. 
1. Actually. He is the mover and the end of all ! the first and 
the last. How actually ? Because, says the text, " He has 
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" There is a pecu- 
liar feature in the character of sin which we sometimes over- 
look : it not only is the evidence of enmity in us against our 
God, and increases that enmity, but it is the cause of dis- 
pleasure towards us on the part of God. Think not that 
thou shalt have a right to sin against thy God, and he wink 
at thy aggravations. No ; sin is not that little thing some 
suppose : it draws down the wrath of Heaven upon thy head ! 
Shalt thou be at liberty to fight against thy God, and shall 
he not fight against thee ? Yea, verily ; God will not relax 
his claims on thee, even though thou shouldst attempt to 
throw them off. Thou mayst refuse subjection, but he will 
not refuse his claim on thy subjection. Sin, then, is of the 
most horrid nature ; it makes war in heaven ; not only puts 
thee at enmity with thy God, but him at enmity with thee. 
But he has reconciled himself to us by Jesus Christ ; and 
not us only, but the world : the world of human nature ; all 
whose nature Christ assumed ; for he took not the nature of 
angels, but flesh, and all who are partakers of that nature 



DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 25 

Which he assumed are the objects of reconciliation. But 
how did he reconcile ? 

2. Meritoriously. He made him to be a sin-offering who 
knew no sin, &c. There is a beautiful opposition in the 
whole of this passage. God made Christ to be sin — a sin- 
offering — that we sinners might be made the righteousness of 
God in him. By righteousness here is meant the entire sane- 
tification of our natures ; not the removing the penalty, but 
destroying the principle : anything short of this would not 
be worthy of the name GospeL If I were to have the offer 
of pardon and heaven, and yet the principle of sin remain- 
ing, I would prefer hell having this principle of sin removed 
and suffering for my guilt (if it were possible), rather than 
have heaven with the guilt pardoned and the principle re- 
maining ; for the soul cannot take pleasure in anything un- 
suitable to its own disposition. Bring a peasant among phi- 
losophers, he prefers his humble cot ; bring a libertine among 
a society noted for chastity, he longs for the scenes of de- 
bauchery ; so the joys of bliss are no joy but to the soul pre- 
pared by similar dispositions for their reception. Again : as 
far as Adam fell, so far are we restored even here, and much 
farther hereafter. Christ is our second Adam, and we are 
to be made the righteousness of God in him ; in and through 
him we are to stand, as in and through Adam we fell ! Be- 
hold, then, sinner, the mighty work which has been done for 
thee ; but behold also the mighty work which must be done 
in thee. Thou hast been redeemed by price ; but this price 
was paid to purchase the power of the Holy Ghost to be 
exerted in thee mightily ; and if the power of God have not 
wrought the change in thy nature, the price paid for thee 
will but enhance thy condemnation. Then thy cry will be, 
I might have been saved, but would not ; now I would, but 
cannot. * * * Now how was this effected ? God was in 
Christ. Allusion is here made to sacrifice, by which men 
entered into covenant with God. Indeed, a sacrifice was 
reckoned a covenant ; now behold the victim ; the hu- 
man nature of Christ, pure, spotless, sinless. God ivas in 
Christ : the Divine nature offered up the human ; there is 
-:>ne party, now where is the other ? We are in Christ also ! 

3 ' D 



26 DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

how fine ! Our human nature is there also, and at this 
shrine we can meet God ! Now at this shrine God does not 
impute our sins to us ; by the offering he is reconciled to us, 
and covers our iniquities. 

II. But now it remains, " Be ye reconciled to GodP Two 
ways of attaining this. 1. Put away sin. 2. Take hold by 
faith. 

1. God has put away sin from before him, and thou must 
meet him, putting it from thee. He has dipped the pen of 
mercy in the blood of the cross, and stained the lines of jus- 
tice against thee, and there is no record now before his throne 
but the blood of Christ. But wilt thou not meet him ? Oh ! 
I tremble for the man living in sin and lust, despising the 
riches of God's grace. Thou art sinning against thy only 
remedy, and for this God will adjudge thee to eternal death. 
Remember ! if thou sin against the remedy offered in Christ, 
" there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain 
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which 
shall devour the adversary." He will come again with 
power and great glory, but it will be without a sin-offering. 
Christ is now thy covenant and sacrifice, but he will then be 
thy sovereign and judge ! Oh ! sinner, I can already be- 
hold the awful scene ; I hear the archangel's voice, " Arise, 
ye dead, and come." Where ? to judgment ! See the burst- 
ing graves ; the great white throne moved forward by ten 
thousand times ten thousand angels ; see the books opened, 
the judge set ! Behold ! the judge himself appears, cloth- 
ed with a girdle from head to foot, his eyes as a flame of 
fire, his feet like burnished brass, his raiment white and glis- 
tering, his countenance as the sun shining in his strength, his 
voice as the sound of many waters, yea, as mighty thunder- 
ings. I see the tomb casts thee forth — refuses to hide thy 
sinful dust ; thine eyes open ; thou wast not dead, but sleep- 
ing ; and now thou art awakened to sleep no more forever. 
I see thy vast surprise ; I hear thy hollow groan, thy piercing 
cry ; thou rendest heaven with thy shrieks ! # # # Is that 
the babe of Bethlehem ! Lord ! Lord ! open unto us. Thou 
art called to the bar ; thy crimes are read ; plead now his 
^lood. Thou pleadest " Jesus ;" he says, " J am he. 11 But 



DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 27 

thou drawest backward and fallest-— down to hell ! Thy 
mouth is stopped ; his blood cries against thee ; thou tram- 
pledst it beneath thy feet ; in time thou wast heard exclaim- 
ing, " His blood be on me," and now the Judge says, " My 
blood be on thee forever — ever !" See, sinner, devils wait 
to drag thy soul away. This will be thy case ; hazard not 
the experiment ; be wise in time ; flee from thy sins ; cut 
off, pluck out, tear the idol from thy breast, even though it 
should leave a bleeding heart behind ; confess thy sins, and 
return unto the Lord ! 

2. Take hold by faith. Now, having prepared thy heart, 
touch the victim. God is in Christ — meet thou in Christ; 
put forth thy hand ! enter into covenant ; strike hands with 
God. Believe that he is reconciled to thee ! Pray not for 
God to devise a plan of reconciliation, but believe he has 
done it ; and do thou lay thy sins at the foot of the altar, 
and take hold of God through the humanity of Jesus ; ap- 
propriate his merits to thy individual case, as the scapegoat, 
&c. # # # # # And now, having acted 

as the ambassador of Christ, allow me to display the char- 
acter of the Christian minister towards man — your servant 
for Christ's sake : we beseech you ; knowing his terrors, we 
would persuade you ; and if I should never have to speak to 
you again, I wash my hands in innocency. I have delivered 
my soul ! I am clear of your blood ! I beseech you ! 

But though, for a moment, we stoop thus, we rise again : 
" As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in 
Chrisfs stead, be ye reconciled to God" It is God that 
speaks through us ; and is it, then, all of grace ? Yes ; 
grace ! grace ! Christ himself beseeches ; he has all the 
glory. Oh ! hear, and your souls shall live ! In Chrisfs 
stead : we stand in the place of Christ ; if he filled the pul- 
pit this night, and spake without any instrument, you would 
be constrained and not persuaded ; but he delights to reward 
you as moral agents, although the reward will be of grace ! 
Oh! then, for Chrisfs sake # #'* -By the mystery of his 
holy incarnation, come to " God through him;" come and 
embrace God. By the mystery of his cross, be crucified 
with him ; by his blood, sprinkled on your hearts by faith ! 



28 



SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY, 



for Christ'' s sake ! If not for Christ's sake, come for your 
own sake ; love yourself. Now is the time. I see the cross 
exalted ; I see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of 
God ; I see him pointing to Calvary ; I hear his voice : "I 
suffered this for thee." (Picture this.) And shall the cries 
of mercy ascend for thee, and wilt not thou ask for thyself ? 
Oh ! for Christ's sake ! Some of you will join hands with 
God to-night — (Jay) ; but of others I might say, " Oh ! that 
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the 
things which belong unto thy peace ; but now they are hid 
from thine eyes." Well, whether thou hear or forbear, we 
shall yet be a" sweet savour unto God, even in them that 
believe and in them that perish." 



SERMON IV. 

SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY. 
Hosea, iv., 17. — Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone. 

The term Ephraim is not applied barely to the tribe of 
that name, but to all men ; for all Scripture was written for 
our reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteous- 
ness. * * * * * * * 

I. Consider the awful assertion, Ephraim is joined to 
idols. 

No need to go back to Ephraim's time to find idolatry, 
where men bowed the knee of the body ; it is possible to 
be idolaters at heart, though the body may be bowed to the 
true object of worship. 

Consider, therefore, what God means by the term idola- 
ters. It is admitted by all that he who had any part in our 
formation has a right to a part of our worship ; and it is not 
unreasonable that a Being who had the greatest share in our 
formation should have most of our worship. But God was 
our sole Creator : He made us, and not we ourselves. Who 
has been his counsellor ? It is therefore reasonable that 
He should have the whole of that worship for which he 



SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY. 29 

made us ; for we are not our own. The requisition of God, 
then, that we should love him with all the heart and all the 
Soul, was not unreasonable ; to the child of God this com- 
mandment is not grievous : His yoke is easy and his burden 
is light. 

Objection. — "We have not now this power ; all our facul- 
ties are deranged ; our nature, our propensities, evil ; all our 
affections earthly. 

Ansiver. — This does not affect the argument. The 
spirit in us lusts to envy ; God gives more grace. He gives 
a greater measure of grace to counteract the evil principle ; 
and the man who will calmly examine his own heart will 
feel that he is always checked in the commission of evil, 
and that by the same principle he is kept uneasy and unhap- 
py, even though in the performance of outward duty, till he 
is made fully happy in God. If man had not the power af- 
forded him thus to fulfil the law, God could not, consistently 
with justice, punish him, much less with that mercy which 
rejoices over judgment. If our evil propensities be thus 
strong, and be the effects of original evil, God could not 
punish us ; we were passive in the offence, and God could 
not inflict active punishment for passive sin. He could not 
judge the world in righteousness in this case ; for we had a 
propelling principle to evil, which was irresistible. But He 
who is a reasonable Being now gives as a command that 
which to Adam was a privilege, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy mind." The principle which we receive, therefore, 
to do good, is at least as strong as the evil one, and there is 
no man who does evil but could by the same power avoid 
doing it. 

As the Creator, therefore, has a right to all our worship, 
any dereliction is called idolatry — when we allow any other 
love to possess our souls but the love of God pre-eminently. 
This truth allowed, the character must attach to some of us ; 
we are idolaters. To fasten that epithet upon us, it is not 
necessary that we fall down before an image. Every man 
has some one single object which he loves and pursues 
more than any other ; this is his idol, be it what it may ; 



30 SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY. 

however lawful he may regard it, he is guilty of idolatry. 
That object which has the greatest share of your attention 
and affection is your idol, and I need not attempt to partic- 
ularize the various idolaters : pleasure-takers, &c. 

Has this world, or the world to come, most of your 
thoughts? Have the things of this world, or those of the 
world to come, most of your affections ? Perhaps you say, 
" I keep all things in their proper place. God has not left 
me here to be idle." I admit it; but whether has He or 
these things the greatest share in your heart ? Stifle not 
conscience ; if it accuse, do not palliate. If you ask the in- 
ward monitor, it will inform you. That you may not de- 
ceive yourselves, answer the following question : If you had 
your choice offered you by God, to live in this world for- 
ever with all your possessions, or to die and be with Him 
forever, which would you accept ? You know you would 
choose this world. It follows that in it is your heart bound 
up ; you are an idolater in the sight of God ! 

Now of you, as well as of Ephraim, God says, " he is 
joined to idols," cemented together. God utters not this 
indifferently ; it is not unconcernedly addressed. He still 
mournfully calls them " my people" and the endearing name 
of Israel brings all to his recollection. So with us. They 
were no people ; even those who bear my name, they are 
now joined to idols. 

II. " Let him alone !" When God says this, how aw- 
ful. 

1. He ceases chastising him ; ceases sending him cross 
providences. The wicked are now left to prosper ; why 
should they be stricken any more ? they will only revolt 
more and more. God often loosened the roots which bound 
them to the world; he often disappointed them in their pros- 
pects in life, that they might not take too deep a root in 
earth ; he often corrected them with sickness in their own 
persons or in their families, to show them the little depend- 
ance to be placed on all things here. Men do not look at 
this ; they do not mind this ; they do not read, " whom the 
Lord loveth he chasteneth ;" they heed none of these things. 
They would not think of him in health ; in love to their 



SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY. 31 

souls, he sent them sickness : then they murmured under it, 
and kicked against their God. He again raised them up ; 
he gave them worldly good : they forgot the Giver. He 
took it away ; they repined ; they were as bullocks unac- 
customed to the yoke. He fed them as in his own stall ; 
He gave them his easy yoke of duties, which ought to have 
been lovely ; they would not draw in it. By gentle treat- 
ment, he goaded them ; they kicked against the pricks, and 
were, as himself says, " a backsliding heifer" u I will 
chastise no more ; let him alone ; let the wicked prosper in 
his ways ; let him live sumptuously ; let his roots strike deep 
and extend wide ; let him fill himself with his own devices ; 
let him alone ; let him be in great prosperity ; his heart is 
set on earth ; he shall therefore bow himself down alway. 
Let him alone!" 

2. God the Father, besides this his own act of chastising, 
commands his angels to forsake him ! We walk in the in- 
visible world : if the veil were removed, what should we see 
bursting on our minds ? We are surrounded by evil spirits, 
and, but for the counteracting agency of those angels, who 
are all ministering spirits from God, our circumstances 
would be horrible ! But the sinner has refused salvation; 
he cares not for the adoption or the glory ! God, therefore, 
commands these spirits to withdraw their influence. This 
he does not in petulance or passion ; no such feeling can 
exist in him ; but justice requires it. The solemn message 
echoes in heaven, " Let him alone !" and angels hear the 
plaintive strain, give a last look, and bid farewell! " No 
more your guardian care his steps attend!" Farewell! "let 
him alone !" .■* * * * * * 

3. Even God the Son now ceases his office. He had 
long prayed,, " Father, spare him this year also !" Love 
had long been exercised ; mercy rejoiced over judgment. 
But the time was now come of which he had said, " Then 
thou shalt cut him down ! I now deliver him up to thee ; 
thou mayst do with him now as thou pleasest." Though I 
have long prayed for him, it is useless ; " let him alone !" * * 

4. God the Spirit now ceases to act. " God's Spirit does 
not always strive with man ;" the Spirit has become quench- 



32 SPIRITUAL IDGLATR¥. 

ed. He has long been striving for admittance into his heart: 
he has long been knocking without, and saying, " Open unto 
me ; behold, my locks are wet with the dew of night ;" but 
he has despised him, and God now says, " Let him alone V* 
There is a particular time in every man's life in which God 
is peculiarly zealous in drawing the soul ; that time may be 
about to pass with regard to many of you ! * * * 

He is now an independent being! he is now "like God, n 
as the devil temptingly said to our first parents ; and oh I 
what is a creature independent I God, who takes care even 
of sparrows, now ceases to regard him ; he is a blank in 
creation ; forsaken of his God and of his all ! * * 

III. The awful consequences. Look at the man who m 
now given up of God ! 

1. How would you gaze upon the unhappy character i£ 
produced ? but what if thou art thyself the man ? No long- 
er the concern of Heaven ! Angels have left the once happy 
station and office of ministering to such- a one ! Infernal 
spirits alone surround him ! They rivet the chains of sin * 
they keep him bound ; laugh at the prospect of his now be- 
ing theirs, and exult over his fall. He was destined to be 
an heir of glory, and for this purpose once had ministering 
spirits ; now he is an heir of hell, and is ministered unto by- 
devils ! His name, instead of being written in the Book of 
Life, is now written in the Book of Death. Chained by 
them to the galley of sin 7 he toils at the oar 7 works for Sa- 
tan, and is paid his wages — eternal death ! 

2. He has no longer any interest in the intercession of 
Christ. "He has long withstood his grace, long provoked 
him to his face !" like his father the devil, an outcast from 
Heaven, reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment 
of the great day. Like the enemy, his head is full of light, 
but his heart is unchanged, and his light adds to his condem- 
nation. 

3. No longer any sweet meltings of desire after Heaven ! 
no longer any drawings of the Father, under which he could 
mourn and weep his life away for having grieved his love. 
No longer a conscience tender as the apple of an eye — it is 
seared as with a hot iron ; a walking spectre ! a condemned 



SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY. 33 

criminal waiting the hour of his execution ! Dead while he 
lives ! cursed with blindness of mind as well as hardness of 
heart. He comes to hear God's word sometimes, merely 
from an itching of curiosity ; he hears the terrors of God's 
wrath held forth ; he hears there is a hell ; he hears there is 
a gnawing worm, a quenchless fire, and he knows that the 
God of Truth has declared it ; but he is dead to all. Hi& 
conscience is so hardened that the word rebounds from it as 
from a wall ; it leaves no impression. He hears the sweet 
strains of a blood-bought salvation held up to his view ; he 
sees the affecting exhibitions of a Redeemer's love, and hears 
that he may feel that love shed abroad in his heart; but still 
he feels no meltings under the word ; his heart is flint and 
his eyes are dry ; he goes away regardless of the joys of 
heaven or the torments of hell. Ah ! miserable soul ! no 
longer any convictions ; and yet this is the surest proof of 
his fall! 

4. Thus he lives, and now he comes to die — no hope be- 
yond the grave. He now begins to fear a judgment to 
come ; and, to quiet his accusing conscience, perhaps par- 
takes of the elements of the body and blood of the Saviour, 
but it is without any acquaintance with him. He was not 
his one great good while alive, and now he mocks him in 
the agonies of death ! He has no guardian angels in his 
chamber ; " the good man's chamber is a spot favoured be- 
yond the common walks of mortal life ;" but here all is sullen 
gloom. Devils themselves hold guard, watching for the last 
gasp, and ready to drag his spirit to its awful doom. Ah ! 
deluded man! " God now laughs at thy calamity, and mocks 
when thy fear cometh !" (Pope's case at Bolton.) * * 

5. And now his last scene comes on ; the judgment is 
set and the books opened ! The devil anxiously brings his 
miserable captives, while the angels of God fly through the 
flaming world to gather the children of God : but behold 
the emissaries of Satan with this man ! Satan heard the 
decree passed condemning him on earth ; he saw its execu- 
tion fulfilled by the departure of the angels of God from his 
person, and he now tauntingly insults the man ; and, as 
winged seraphs dart along to carry the faithful, Satan cries> 

E 



34 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

" Let him alone ! he is mine, and mine he shall ever be !" 
The awful sentence is pronounced, " Depart, thou cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
Christ had often said " Come;" now, "Depart!" * * 

Application. — Examine yourselves; I have not the pow- 
er ; but know ye not your own selves whether ye are rep- 
robates ? I hold out no gleam of hope ! I do not say what 
you may be ; but, sinner, I would fasten on thy present state, 
Thou art the man ! What part of hell shall be punishment 
sufficient for Gospel-hardened sinners ! It is not the religion 
of your fathers that will save you; it is not the religion of 
your ministers, however great may be their piety. You 
must answer for yourself. By yourself you shall stand or 
fall ! and it will not do to appeal to this or that man as the 
person to whom you looked for aid, and who has led you 
astray. 

And are you not concerned ? Shall the deceivableness 
of the wicked one still overspread your minds ? Are you 
well pleased to drag out your existence here, and then to 
drop into hell ? Can you lie in your beds in this state ? 
You know not how soon you may be cut down ; you know 
not how soon death may come Oh ! awake, awake ! * * 



SERMON V. 

THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

Hebrews, vii., 25. — Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 

This subject not sufficiently thought upon by us, nor dwelt 
on by ministers. # # # # 

I. The office itself which our Lord is represented as 
sustaining. 

II. The purposes for which he sustains it. 
III. We may add an improvement of the whole. 



THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 35 

I. There are three offices which Christ sustains in refer- 
ence to the salvation of men, prophetical, sacerdotal, and re- 
gal. These comprehend all that he has done, is doing, and 
will do, in reference to our salvation, until the mediatorial 
kingdom be given up. 

Intercession is part of the sacerdotal office. " To inter- 
cede" means to go between one person and another, and 
address one on behalf of another ; and in Scripture, to make 
such address to God. St. John is a commentator on this : 
" If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Je- 
sus Christ the righteous." This affords some illustration of 
the intercession of Christ. 

But the manner in which it is conducted is perhaps best 
seen by the office of the Jewish high-priest — typical. When 
he had slain the victim he took the blood into the holy place. 
Jesus having suffered on earth, produces and pleads his suf- 
ferings in heaven. He has not entered into the holy place 
made with hands, but into heaven itself, and there continu 
ally presents that humanity, with all the marks of his wounds 
before the Father, endured in obedience to the Father's will 
St. John saw a lamb slain. (Query, Whether Christ's in 
tercession be vocal. Scriptures have not said. John, xvii. 
and Psalm ii. " Ask of me." Incline to this opinion.) 

The necessity of this intercession is obvious. His death 
is the procuring cause of redemption, but it is in virtue of 
his life, and that an intercessory life, that we become pos- 
sessed of the benefits of that redemption : " For if, when we 
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of 
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by 
his life." Hence this life will be continued as long as the 
present state of grace and mercy lasts. This is the doctrine 
of the text.* 

This mediation and intercession is a truth revealed in 
Scripture, and accords with the general sense of mankind. 
Most nations have some tutelary, intercessory, subordinate 
god. Men, generally, have been sensible that they were 
sinners and liable to punishment ; that their own merit was 
insufficient, and that they needed a higher Mediator to plead 

* See Clarke, in loco. 



38 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

their cause. This relief, which the heathen sought after in 
vain, is revealed in Christ, a real Mediator, with such qual- 
ifications as give satisfaction and encouragement to all who 
come to God by him. His divinity gives infinite merit and 
efficacy to his pleadings ; and possessing also the human na- 
ture, affords ground to believe he will undertake, with ten- 
derness and compassion, the cause of man. 

II. The purposes for which he sustains the office of medi- 
ation and intercession. 

1. For the suspension of merited punishment and the ex- 
tension of our probationary existence. 

Our obligations to the Saviour are not considered aright, 
even by the serious. How is it that we live on trial at all ? 
that we, as sinners condemned to that wrath, are placed un- 
der the possibility of deliverance ? How is it that the sen- 
tence is so far reversed that we are in circumstances of mer- 
cy and hope ? The intercession of Christ — and every day 
we live increases the sum of our obligations. Have we not 
forfeited life a thousand times ? It is a life in which we are 
on trial for eternity. Have the things of eternity uniformly 
impressed and regulated us ? It is a life in which pardon 
and heaven have been all along offered us. Have we la- 
boured to secure the one and prepare for the other ? It is a 
life in which the Lord of the universe has intrusted us with 
certain talents, various in kind, and has said, " occupy till I 
come." Has it been our first concern ? I appeal to your 
judgments — nay, to your memories and consciences. What 
have been the reflections with which you have often closed 
your years ? What but lamenting your unfaithfulness, luke- 
warmness, undue influence of the world: and that where 
attachments should be greatest they are least. At such 
times, have you not deprecated the Divine displeasure, which 
you were persuaded must be excited ? Have you not ac- 
knowledged that you had forfeited your life of grace and 
probation, and that it would be just in God if he were to cut 
you down and swear in his wrath that you should never en- 
ter into his rest ? Why is that punishment suspended and 
your life prolonged ? " He ever liveth to make intercession 
for us" You may say it te owing to the long suffering of 



THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 37 

God, but this is preserved by the intervention of Christ, 
The parable of the barren fig-tree. * * * For how many 
years has the intercessor pressed the plea, " This year also" 
Ye hearers of the Gospel ! ye professing Christians ! ye 
Methodists ! ye on whom so much culture has been bestow- 
ed, but who have disappointed the reasonable expectations 
of the Lord of the vineyard, how could you have arrested 
the course of justice when it cried, " Cut him down!" Oh ! 
see the prevalency of his intercession, that, after all your 
barrenness, you are still spared. It is because he has power 
with God and prevails, and solely because of this, that you 
are out of hell, and now living upon trial. 

2. For the continuance of the economy of grace in the 
Church, and the supply of spiritual influence to the minds 
of men. This is necessary to help in improving our extend- 
ed probation. We may live, but no amendment, no salva- 
tion wrought out, unless by an influence within and assisted 
by the means without. What is the condition of him from 
whom the Holy Spirit is withdrawn, and who is abandoned 
to the terrible effects of " Let him alone?" Deplorable! 
desperate — past remedy. And have we not reason to fear it 
in the case of those who have so long resisted ? And are 
there not instances in the history of the Church in which the 
Gospel has been withdrawn for unprofitableness ? Where 
are the Asiatic churches ? The besom of destruction has 
passed over them. # # # # 

Now the government of the Church and succession of faith- 
ful ministers are in the hands of Jesus as Mediator ; " For 
the Father hath put all things under his feet and made him 
head over all things to the Church." But the administration 
he exercises over it is not in right of his natural sovereignty 
as " God over all ;" it is in virtue of his Mediator ship. Do 
not lose sight of this ; we are all lost, but placed under an 
administration of mercy, a constitution of grace, under the 
dominion of his Son as Mediator. The continuance of this 
merciful administration — our Sabbaths, ministers, sacra- 
ments, throne of grace — all depend on the mediation of our 
High-priest, in the immediate presence of the Majesty on 
high. He received gifts for men, even the rebellious ; and 

4 



38 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

St. Paul says, " He gave some apostles, and some prophets, 
and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the 
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
the edifying of the body of Christ." 

To the same cause is to be attributed the continual supply 
of the Spirit's influence to the minds of individuals. The 
gift of this Divine agent resulted from the mediation of 
Christ. "It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I 
go not away the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if 
I depart I will send him unto you. I will pray the Father, 
and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever. — Being by the right hand of God exalted, 
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost." And if this same Holy Ghost still strive with you, 
to give you a knowledge of yourselves ; to fix a concern for 
Divine things ; to strip you of self, and bring you, in all the 
nakedness of simple faith, to the foot of the Redeemer's 
cross, it is because that Redeemer is still acting for you as 
mediator in the court of heaven : " He ever liveth to make 
intercession for us." 

3. For the pardon and salvation of the most reprobate 
and guilty. So Isaiah tells us in that admirable prophecy 
of the mediatorial work of Christ with which the whole of 
his fifty-third chapter is engrossed. " He made intercession 
for the transgressors." Of such intercession the Redeemer 
gave a most illustrious specimen when, in the midst of his 
agonies on the cross, he exclaimed, " Father, forgive them." 
If Christ died for the salvation of all, his intercession is car- 
ried on for the benefit of all ; for such is the connexion be- 
tween the two grand branches of the priestly office, that 
the salvation of our fallen spirits cannot be effected but 
as they are interested in both. I do not now agitate the 
question of the extent of Christ's death. That he tasted 
death for every man, I now assume as a Scriptural proposi- 
tion ; and that he makes intercession for every man, follows, 
I contend, as a necessary consequence, because it is indispen- 
sably necessary to put them in actual possession of its bene- 
fits. O ! ye careless, consider the mercy of the Son of God ; 
be astonished, relent, break your hearts under a sense of it. 



THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 39 

If anything can move to seriousness and concern, it is this : 
" Father, forgive them." Oh listen to his pleadings for you, 
and yield to his pleadings in you. But to penitents, how full 
of encouragement ! He intercedes for the pardon of all who 
have been most reprobate, but are now coming to God by 
him. Take confidence ; you are interested ; he sees your 
bitter reflections and remorseful feelings ; vilely as you have 
treated him, he has no wish to put you to unnecessary pain ; 
he beholds your groans, sighs, and tears ; he knows you can 
make no reparation, and he requires none ; he has bought 
you a pardon by his blood, and, while presenting that blood 
above for you, he pours in effectual prayer, " Father, for- 
give /" Believe, and you shall " go down justified." 

4. That our persons and services may be acceptable to 
God. Hence St. Paul : " Through him we have access by 
one spirit unto the Father." Some of the opposers of Chris- 
tian doctrine say that our worshipping God through a medi- 
ator is derogatory to the Divine goodness, calculated to lead 
into a neglect of God the Father, and is a sort of indecency 
when we consider ourselves always in his presence. I an- 
swer, remember, 

1. That, in everything relating to Christ as the mediator 
of our approaches, we are to consider him as graciously ap- 
pointed for this purpose by God himself, and that the good- 
ness of the Supreme Being is wondrously displayed in this 
constitution by which his guilty creatures are imboldened in 
their addresses. 

2. That the Christian scheme requires us not to terminate 
our regards in the Mediator as such, but to address God 
through him. 

3. That it is so far from being an indecency to approach 
a sovereign by the person he appoints to introduce us to 
him, that, if such an appointment be made, it is insulting to 
come directly and immediately to him. In reference to the 
Almighty, this is a consideration with which our minds can- 
not be too solemnly impressed. There is no warrant in all 
the New Testament to come on any occasion, for anything, 
but through the mediation of Ms Son. " No man cometh 
unto the Father but by me." Nay, the man who does not 



40 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

worship God in this way does not worship him at all ; he is 
left without God ; and whatever he may call himself, his 
God is a mere idol of the imagination, which has no cor- 
responding reality in the whole universe of being. " Who- 
so denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. Seeing 
then that we have a great High-priest that is passed into the 
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profes- 
sion," for we have " boldness, and access with confidence, 
through the faith of him." 

You have thanksgivings to offer unto God, and never ought 
you to ask for fresh supplies until you have presented your 
praises for those with which you are already indulged. Of- 
fer yours as Paul did : "I thank God through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." You have petitions to make for yourselves and 
supplications for others ; however unworthy, those petitions 
are of the Divine notice on account of your feebleness, dis- 
tractions, and unfaithfulness ; if made in his name who ever 
liveth to make intercession for us, they will receive the most 
suitable and gracious attention. " Whatsoever ye shall ask 
the Father in my name, that will I do, that the Father may 
be glorified in the Son." Some of you employ yourselves 
in a variety of ways for God ; you feel it at once your duty 
and your pleasure to serve him and your generation ; but 
you see that meanness and imperfection attach to all your 
performances. When you have done all, you are unprofit- 
able servants. Nor is there a single thing for which you can 
expect a reward independent of the merit of the Saviour. 
But the great High-priest over the house of God introduces 
both your persons and services to the Father, and, relying on 
his intercession, you are accepted in the Beloved. , 

This leads us to observe, 

5. The intercession of Christ embraces in a very special 
manner the interests of his people. 

While it has so important a reference to the salvation of 
all, in obtaining a larger space of trial and continuing his 
Holy Spirit ; and while it has respect to the pardon of the 
most guilty, it is carried on more particularly and delightfully 
for the welfare of those who are in union with him, and to 
whom he has become wisdom and righteousness. Taking his 



THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 41 

prayer on the night in which he was betrayed as a pattern of 
his intercession before the throne, we see that everything con- 
nected with the happiness of his followers is an object of his 
advocacy. Need they preservation ? Indeed they do ; for, 
whatever their condition or attainments, they are beset by 
enemies, and their own infirmities render them unequal to 
their defence ; but hear : " Holy Father, keep, through thy 
own name, those whom thou hast given me. I pray not that 
thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou 
shouldst keep them from the evil." Need they sanctifica- 
tion ? Indeed they do. True, many are not as zealous as 
they ought to be in seeking it, and the best lament that they 
are not more like him who did no sin, and in whose mouth 
was found no guile. Well hear : " Sanctify them through 
thy truth." Again: What an important object is the union 
of his people ? important in its influence on their individual 
advantage and comfort, and their mutual edification, and 
especially in the example it exhibits to the world. How 
beautiful they would appear if they were all of one heart and 
of one soul ! and how great the force of their example ! 
The world could not stand before them. It was so with the 
first believers, and shall be again; for it is the object of 
Christ's intercession : " That they all may be one, as thou, 
Father, art in me and I in thee ; that they also may be one 
in us." To crown the whole, he intercedes for their glori- 
fication : " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast 
given me be with me where I am, that they may behold the 
glory which thou hast given me." Attend to this language: 
he asks as one who has a right to be heard ; for, by his obe- 
dience unto death, he has purchased heaven itself for us, and 
rendered our introduction into it consistent with the truth, 
righteousness, and law of God. Hence the Father cannot 
deny him. He raised him from the dead, and exalted his 
human nature in token that his sacrifice was satisfactory, and 
he cannot refuse the request he makes on behalf of his peo- 
ple, since what he asks he has died to procure. 

III. See, then, the purposes for which Jesus lives to make 
intercession for us. 

1, The first consideration to which we are led is the maj- 

F 



42 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING.. 

esty and holiness of God the Father. He does nothing im- 
mediately with man ; all is through a mediator, and with him 
we have immediately to do in the concerns of faith, holiness, 
and salvation. And why ? " He is of purer eyes than to 
behold iniquity ; the unclean cannot dwell in his sight ; what 
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and 
what communion hath light with darkness ?" The charac- 
ter of the Supreme is nowhere seen so clearly and impress- 
ively as in the sacrifice and mediatorial acts of his Son* 
Though much of his unapproachable grandeur was taught in 
sacrifices, washings, fee, yet the most solemn acts, even on 
the day of expiation, were only typical of what was perfect- 
ed and is carrying on by the Redeemer, the only real sacri- 
fice and prevailing intercessor : and if, on the one hand, the 
appointment of him as High-priest shows the boundless pity 
and benevolence of the Most High, on the other, the requi- 
sition of a sacrifice so infinitely meritorious affords the most 
ample and awful demonstration that " our God is a consu- 
ming fire." 

Let this promote corresponding sentiments of reverence 
and Godly fear. Never allow yourselves in rash and hasty 
approaches to God, or unbecoming familiarities towards 
him. " Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness,, fearful 
in praises, doing wonders ?" 

u Who know his power, his grace who prove, 
Serve him with awe, with reverence, love.'^ 

2. This subject commends to us in more striking terms the 
love of Christ. It shows that it is constant and unremitted. 
It was that which induced him to undertake our redemption ; 
which led him to make himself of no reputation, and take 
upon him the form of a servant ; and, though God with God ? 
to appear as man with man ; which led him to exhibit him- 
self as a spectacle to angels and men, and, after all, de- 
scend to the humiliation of the grave — all love ! That same 
unconquerable love has returned with him to heaven^ and 
still interests him in our cause I Talk you of the constancy 
of attachment ? See it in Jesus towards those whose salva- 
tion he has at heart ! 

We see it is tender and sympathizing, for we have to do 



THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 43 

i 
with him as still sustaining our nature, and acquainted with 
all its infirmities, trials, and wants. As he made man, he 
might have been a merciful intercessor, though not made 
flesh himself ; but we could not have been so fully persuaded 
of this. The high-priest of the law was taken from among 
men that he might have compassion, &c. # # # 
See how this applies to Jesus : " For we have not a high- 
priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
ties, but was in all points tempted like as we are." This 
opens a source for exquisite consolation ; " sympathy is pro- 
duced and cherished by experience" Who are most kind 
and humane ? Those who have been much in the school of 
affliction and " in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, 
he is able to succour them that are tempted." When you 
pine in poverty, when your heart is broken by reproach, 
when the devil tries to injure your purity and disturb your 
enjoyment, recollect and have confidence ; He knows what 
all these mean, for he hath felt the same. Experience ! oh ! 
this is a ground of confidence indeed ! We now try to arm 
you against the fear of death : and when death is approach- 
ing, ministers and Christians will try to support you. But 
we have no experience ; we do not know what it is to die ; 
but one will be near you who has passed through the trying 
scene, who knows the feelings of human nature in the separ- 
ation of soul and body, and in leaving beloved friends and 
relatives, and who is able to administer all adequate and 
suitable consolation. 

Consider also the comprehensiveness of the love of Christ 
as manifested in his intercession. It extends to everything 
connected with our welfare and salvation. There is not a 
prayer you offer, but he hears and presents it to the Father ; 
not a duty to be discharged, but he enables you to perform 
it ; not a blessing you need to perfect you in holiness, but 
he can obtain it for you ; not a seat in glory, but, through 
Ms infinite merits, you may be fitted for and placed in it. 

The love of Christ is a theme on which we should fre- 
quently dwell. Our love to him is the very life and soul of 
all our religion ; and what can produce this but his love to 
us? "We love him, because he first loved us." O! 



44 THE SAVIOUR INTERCEDING. 

when we get our hearts fully into this subject, its compre- 
hensiveness, tenderness, and constancy, we feel somewhat our 
obligations, and resolve to give our little all ! 

" My Saviour how shall I proclaim, 
How pay the mighty debt I owe % 
Let all I have and all I am 

Ceaseless to all thy glory show. 

" Too much to thee I cannot give, 
Too much I cannot do for thee : 
Let all thy love and all thy grief 
Graven on my heart forever be." 

3. It is intended to impress our minds with the necessity 
of availing ourselves of the advocacy of Christ. 

It is necessary for every one of us, and for every one of us 
continually. O that some of you would now for the first 
time put your cause into Christ's hands ! O sinner, if Christ's 
compassion were not above the most tender mercies of man, 
as the heaven is above the earth, long ere this your condi- 
tion would have been utterly hopeless. And shall this for- 
bearance be all lost on you ? Are your hearts so steeled as 
to resist the impression of love so amazing, so divine ? Pain- 
ful as it is to us on such a subject of mercy to say it, we must 
tell you, that even the mercy of Christ has its limits : " Lo ! 
these three years I come seeking fruit and find none." Lord, 
" let it alone this year also." O if this reprieve expire and 
find you yet in your sins ! Hourly your probation is draw- 
ing to a close ; in a season you think not the axe may be 
laid to the root of the tree ! O that I could prevail ! Be- 
fore Christ ceases to act as Mediator, accept his proffered 
interposition. Resolve now, and here, that you will be his. 
Blessed are they that trust in him. 

I conclude by reminding those who do come, of the ne- 
cessity of cultivating a continual sense of their dependance 
on him. If he ever liveth to make intercession for you, you 
are never safe but when you feel this is necessary, and live 
by faith in the Son of God. As through his mediation you 
are brought into a state of grace, by the same must you be 
kept and perfected in it to the end. Look to him for all 
needful supplies, till out of his fulness you receive grace for 
grace, and meetness for glory. Look at him till you are 



THE RACE FOR GLORY. 45 

saved to the uttermost, and till he has consummated this ut- 
termost salvation on earth by bringing you where he now 
is — the true Holy of Holies — to behold his glory, and unite 
with " every creature which is in heaven and earth, and un- 
der the earth, and such as are in the sea, saying, < Blessing, 
and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth 
on the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever.' " 



SERMON VI. 

THE RACE FOR GLORY. 

Hebrews, xii., 1, 2. — Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so 
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ; who, for the joy that was 
set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right 
hand of the throne of God. 

As it is impossible to understand any heavenly gifts oth- 
erwise than by earthly comparisons, so equally is it impossi- 
ble to explain the life of a Christian but by earthly practices ; 
the mind of man is so corrupted that it is susceptible of no- 
thing but such objects as affect its passions or strike its 
senses : an awful proof, this, of our fallen state ! So long 
as man remained upright in the image of God, the Spirit of 
God inhabited his own temple ; and so indissoluble was the 
union between the Creator and the creature, that his soul 
was fully illumined by the glory of that Being residing in 
him, whose presence alone causes the light of heaven. The 
Shechinah of the Divine presence dwelt in man, and he had 
no need of parables, metaphors, or allegories to illustrate to 
him the happiness of his state ; he felt it, he rejoiced in it, 
he walked in the light of his God ! But how short was this 
happiness ! He disobeyed ; the Spirit of God fled from this 
now polluted place, and it is easy to conceive the darkness, 
yea, the blackness of darkness that now overshadowed and 
filled his once holy soul ! His mortal enemy took posses- 
sion of the citadel of his heart, in which his heavenly Mas- 
ter had once swayed his sceptre, and out of the magazine of 



46 THE RACE FOR GLORY. 

hell stored it with all those diabolical passions and brutish 
appetites which rage there — ever raging, ever ungratified ! 
Nicodemus, &c. * * * * * 

When God, therefore, spake to man, by his own Son, it 
was in parables: " Without a parable spake he not unto 
them : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the 
prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables ; I will 
utter things which have been kept secret from the founda- 
tion of the world :" and the apostles, in preaching, general- 
ly followed our Lord's manner as well as matter. St. Paul's 
mind was of such a cast that he seizes on every object, and 
improves every circumstance in the Jewish ritual to explain 
the doctrines of the Gospel : this epistle abounds with in- 
stances illustrative of this fact. But in his travels also he 
seizes every occurrence of interest, the customs and prac- 
tises of those Gentile nations among whom he preached, to 
fasten these doctrines the more firmly in their minds. From 
one of these customs is the allegory of our text deduced ; 
and it will be impossible for us to understand its true mean- 
ing without taking into account the subject which he point- 
ed at. 

You know that St. Paul had been at Corinth, at which 
place he founded a church of considerable magnitude ; and 
here he resided some time, and twice or thrice visited it af- 
terward. Near this city were celebrated certain games call- 
ed the Isthmian games, so called from the isthmus upon 
which they were celebrated, and on which Corinth was sit- 
uated. The exercises practised at these games were of va- 
rious kinds, as wrestling, boxing, running, charioteering, 
throwing the discus, &c, &c. ; and as the nature of these 
exhibitions was well known to the people composing that 
church, he abounds in his epistles to them with figures in 
allusion thereto. For example : 

" So run that ye may obtain." Here is an allusion to the 
game of running in the race to obtain the prize. Writing 
to the Ephesians, he says, "We wrestle not against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against 
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
wickedness in high places" — an allusion to the game of 



THE UACh FOR GLOHY. 47 

wrestling. Writing to Timothy, he says, " I have fought a 
good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ;" 
alluding to boxing; and he calls this the good fight. "I 
have finished my course;" alluding again to running; he 
had just finished the race and got to the goal. " Hence- 
forth," says he, •" there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
eousness," in allusion to the crown which the victor receiv- 
ed, which crown was only composed of some vegetable, as 
parsley, or the leaves of some tree, as laurel or otherwise. 
To this Paul opposes the words " crown of righteousness ;" 
and as he elsewhere says to the church at Corinth, " a crown 
which fadeth not away" which fading away was the prop- 
erty of all such crowns as those with which the victors m 
these contests were honoured ; the morning's bloom was 
soon folio wed by the evening's shade. " Which crown shall 
be given me by the Lord, the righteous Judge ;" alluding to 
the judge appointed to award the prize in these games, who 
could perhaps be biased in favour of a certain competitor 
more than another ; but the Lord is the righteous Judge, 
who will do right ; he is no respector of persons. 

Peter has just the same figure in his mind when he says, 
"When Christ, who is the chief Shepherd, shall appear, ye 
shall receive a crown cf glory which fadeth not away." 
Nor is our blessed Lard himself without allusion to the same 
when he says, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate -? ' liter- 
ally, agonize ; the persons who contended at the games were 
called agonistae, agonizers, and the games themselves were 
called agonse, that is, agonies ; so the evangelist, speaking 
of the struggles of our Lord in the Garden, says, " He was 
in an agony" such was his conflict with the w eight of his 
sufferings. 

The particular agony to which St. Paul alludes in our text 
is that of running — the agony of running ; for they were all 
called agonies. In this agony four things are to be consid- 
ered, namely : 

1. The herald went forth to proclaim aloud that the race 
%vas then about to begin, to declare what the nature of the 
race was, the terms thereof, and also to make known the 



48 THE RACE' FOR GLORY'. 

necessary directions to the agonizers. He was called by a 
word which properly means a preacher or publisher, &c. 

2. Connected with this was the leader of the course ; this* 
was some eminent citizen, who was esteemed fully compe- 
tent to be the arbiter of the contest. His duty was to mark 
the ground on which they were to run by a white chalked 
line ; * for this purpose having to go over the ground before 
them, he was called the leader of the race , he then took hi© 
station at the goal whither he had arrived, and when the con- 
test was over he awarded the crown to the lawful victor^ 
placing it on his head ; in this point of view he was called 
the cr owner, so that he was both the leader and the cr owner 
of the race. 

3. Next in these games were the persons who were ap^ 
pointed to run the course ; upon their entering the lists they 
were stripped of their former garments, and had a dress 
given them suitable to their undertaking. The foot was put 
upon the line that had been chalked out, and they were 
commanded to run, but upon certain rules, the breach of 
which would deprive them of the honour they sought ; they 
must run lawfully. It is with this figure in his mind that the 
apostle writes to Timothy, " If one strive for the mastery, yet 
is he not crowned unless he strive lav/fully." 

4. The last particular was the immense and innumerable 
crowd of spectators assembled to witness the exhibition, 
The whole surrounding country was so literally covered with 
them that they might be compared to a cloud overshadowing 
the land : they were witnesses of the game and of the con- 
duct of the agonizers ; they saw how each ran 7 and were 
anxious in the highest degree for their success or defeat, ac- 
cording as they were actuated by contending motives. Each 
of them had his friends, it is true, who, by their hearty 
cheers and encouragements, revived the spirits of the cham- 
pions ; yet each had his enemies, who wished his defeat, re- 
joicing at his fall, and using all their arts to baffle his zeal 
and diligence. 

Now these four particulars formed the Grecian games^ 
and we shall consider them in the same order, that we may 
illustrate this passage of the word of God, and see it in its 



THE RACE FOR GLORY. 49 

true beauty. We shall attempt, in all humility and in the 
fear of God, to spiritualize as we proceed, and to render the 
whole useful to your souls. Brethren, pray for us, that we 
may speak boldly as we ought to speak. 

I. The herald. This is not set forth in our text ; though 
the apostle mentions the other three particulars, he makes no 
mention of this. But the reason was obvious ; he himself 
was the herald or preacher, and was making the proclama- 
tion which the duty of that office required, in the very words 
of our text. These words were his message, and this mes- 
sage is fulfilled in proclaiming them. 

Now, you have heard the heralds of God proclaiming to 
you, every day in the week, that the game is now in prog- 
ress ; I again proclaim this is the accepted time ; the race is 
marked out for you, the Judge has taken his station at the 
right hand of his Father, and has admitted you upon the 
course ; the groups of witnesses are now collected, and there 
is no time to be lost. The game ! did I say ? Shall I use 
so light a phrase as the game of eternal life ? If it offend 
you I would change it, and call upon you by the love due to 
your own souls, by the tender mercies of God, by the awful 
judgments of God, make sure work for eternal life ! There 
is no alternative, the race is for eternal life ; if you refuse to 
run it, eternal death is the inevitable consequence. Oh ! 
how awful will be the punishment of the disobedient under 
the Gospel dispensation ! If, under Moses's inferior dis- 
pensation, every transgression received its just punishment, 
how much more dreadful will their condition be who sin 
under the Gospel, inasmuch as its blessings are secured to 
us on so much better promises, and convey to us so many 
better privileges ? It is all mercy now, but it will be all jus* 
tice then, for K ouv God is a consuming fire." This leads 
us then to inquire, 

II. With whom have we to do ? Who is our Judge, then, 
and arbiter ? It is he who is called Jesus, the name that 
charms the ears of the believer ; but the name, at the bare 
mention of which the sinner will shrink at the day of judg- 
ment, and, to escape the sound, seek the lowest pit of hell. 
Jesus the Saviour ! the very meaning of the name ! and the 

5 G 



60 THE RACE FOR GLORY. 

Saviour obliged then to become the executioner ! The very 
name will then appal the stoutest heart, as it brings to his 
remembrance the end for which that Jesus died ! Jesus has 
undertaken to be the leader of the race, for he it was who 
brought life and immortality fully to light by the Gospeh 
The apostle in this same epistle calls him our forerunner ; 
he ran before us and took his station, and called on us to 
come up to the mark to which he has arrived ; and what is 
this ? Even the summit of the Throne of God himself. He 
has sat down with his Father on his throne, and believers 
are called to participate in the same felicity. Then it is 
that, having presented them as the travail of his soul, he be- 
comes the cr owner of their faith, and makes them kings as 
well as priests unto himself. In this sense the words of our 
text should properly be understood ; we read them Jesus 
Christ, the author and finisher of our faith ; it is a very bad 
rendering, and properly should be the leader and crowner. 
And what is the race to which we are called ? It is the 
race to heaven, to God ; for this we were primarily created 
and designed by God — O love Divine! — that we might 
be eternally happy in the enjoyment of himself. But we 
forfeited all right and title thereto; and such was the love 
of God, that he sent as a Redeemer one who redeemed for 
us the forfeited inheritance, and calls on us now to come 
to himself. He has marked out the road before us, he has 
pressed down the briers and thorns which strew the way, and 
requires us to walk in his footsteps, to place our feet in the 
same track. " Let the same mind be in you which was also 
in Christ Jesus." If I were preaching for a year I could 
not say more than is contained in this short sentence. If we 
possess the same mind we shall attain the same end ; the 
end laid down in our text, and before hinted at ; we shall 
sit down at the right hand of the throne ! The nearer we 
walk to the pattern of Jesus the more secure will be our 
way ; as the natural sun leaves an illumined track behind 
him which is visible after himself has disappeared, so Jesus, 
the Sun of heaven, having illumined our earth a few thirty 
years, took his rapid flight to the regions of glory, the man- 
sions of eternal day ; but yet he has left the refulgence be- 



THE RACE FOR GLORY. 51 

hind him, that whoso keepeth his word shall not walk in 
darkness, but shall have the light of life ! 

Though the path in which we must walk is well expressed 
by the apostle in the words I have quoted above, " Let the 
same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," yet 
this is general ; but in our text he descends to particulars, 
and enjoins us to copy after Jesus in that part of the course 
where he endured the cross and despised the shame. Now, 
though this part of our Lord's life is principally insisted on 
here on account of the peculiar circumstances under which 
he wrote this epistle, yet it is no less applicable to us. The 
Hebrews had daily to take up their cross ; they were cast 
out of their quiet habitations, nor could they obtain any re- 
dress to their aggravated grievances. The apostle therefore 
beautifully points out the Redeemer in this character ; he 
endured the cross, despising the shame. But, says the apos- 
tle in this same chapter, " Ye have not resisted unto blood !" 
Though you have lost all, you have not been called upon to 
lay down your lives ; but Jesus marked the way by his own 
blood. It was not a chalked line He marked for our way 
to heaven ; but His precious blood stained the way and 
marked the ground. In the garden this agony begins, the 
peculiar object of his mission; every inch of the ground 
from there to the cross is stained with blood : " His sweat 
fell to the ground in great drops of blood !" Led to Pilate's 
hall, the scourge lays open his back, and causes his precious 
blood to flow from thence to the Pretorium ; there the 
crown of thorns again continues the stream, till he bears 
his cross and sinks beneath the weight to Calvary's summit, 
and there the residue is now poured out. Sinner ! this was 
done for thee ! Thou art the man that nailed him there ! 

And what sustained Jesus under all this ? the joy of ful- 
filling his Father's will ! Do you suffer here ? It is your 
heavenly Father's will : fulfil it ; but, besides, your eternal 
salvation depends upon it ; the salvation of your own souls 
is the reward ; so that, however severe your trials here, God 
makes them work out for you " a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory." Oh ! the words work out for 



52 THE RACE FOR GLORY. 

you — he presses all into his service. We must be cross* 
bearers; and though our afflictions, in consequence of our 
Christian profession, are not so severe as those of the He- 
brews — and thank God for it — yet we have all a daily con- 
flict ; we must daily crucify the old man with his affections 
and lusts, and put to death the body of sin ! It is hard work 
when old Adam within us begins to die, and yet we must 
destroy him before we are fully renewed in the spirit of our 
minds. Now this must be the practice of all believers in 
Christ Jesus ; which leads us, 

III. To inquire who are called to run the race, and what 
must be their qualifications and conduct. All men are 
called ; Jesus has invited all ; he has led the way for all, 
and all may be partakers of the same reward ; in this race all 
may be conquerors ! " Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, 
tasted death for every man." 

Now what are the requisites for our running well ? We 
must " lay aside every weight" You know no one, in a 
race, would load himself with any weight, nor bear any 
which he could dispense with ; everything of this kind would 
hinder his progress. So it is with the Christian. What 
your peculiar weight or hinderance is I know not ; perhaps 
something lawful, for weights are different from sins : " No 
man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this 
life;" your child, your wife, your husband, may be the 
weight. Do you feel that you are loitering in the heavenly 
way, and not making that advancement which you ought to 
do, and which you perhaps wish ? Pray to God to show 
you the hinderance, and determine, by his grace, to put it 
away. 

Closely united with this direction is the next : " and the 
sin which doth so easily beset us" The apostle alludes to 
the long flowing garments worn in those days, which would 
very much incommode a person in haste, and so completely 
fold around his feet that it was impossible to run in them. 
They must lay this aside if they wished to run so as to ob- 
tain. Now there is attached to every man some such sin as 
this, called the besetting sin, the well- circumstanced sin ; the 
sin that surrounds us as a garment, which meets us on all oc- 



THE RACE FOR GLORY. 53 

casions, going out and coming in, and in every situation of 
life. This may arise in some from the peculiar nature of 
the constitution, habits, or education ; and of all other sins, 
it is the most difficult to subdue. It is common to us all; 
and if each of us do not know the sin that doth most easily 
beset us, we betray great want of self-knowledge and little 
acquaintance with our own hearts ! 

It is to the soul what the heart is to the body. As the 
heart first begins to beat in man, and gives life and strength 
to the whole frame, and is the last part of man which ceases 
to move and exist, so with this sin ; it is the first sin which 
begins to discover itself in us, gives life and vigour to the 
whole, and last of all expires ; and as the body of flesh be- 
comes dead when the heart stops, so the body of sin is cru- 
cified and dead when, by the grace of God, Ave are enabled 
to destroy it. The well-circumstanced sin to which the He- 
brews were most exposed was the fear of persecution ; they 
suffered so many hardships that they began to waver in their 
profession of Christianity, and this led them to turn away 
from it. 

This may not be the besetting sin of any of you ; that sin 
may not arise from anything outward ; it may be an inward 
preventive, and most probably is so. Now this will hinder 
you ; you must lay this aside, together with every weight, 
and run with patience the race set before you. 

You must run, not be dragging on in the heavenly jour- 
ney, continually complaining, " My leanness, my leanness, 
wo unto me," but increasing more and more, day by day, in 
the knowledge of God. Oh ! how far should we have been 
on our journey had we been more diligent ! more faith- 
ful ! But come, take courage ; forgetting what is behind, 
press on ! 

" Looking' unto Jesus." This is what is before. Now the 
runner kept the goal and judge in view ; he had a single 
eye ; he was dead to every surrounding scene, and all his 
soul was in his eyes ! So we must constantly keep this pat- 
tern, this copy in our view, and imitate it, if we would run 
well. 

And we must run with patience. The word is very ex- 



54 THE RACE FOR GLORY. 

pressive ; it is taken from the figure of a person bearing a 
burden : he meets with resistance ; his load increases ; yet 
he lays his shoulder under it and bears it. Now just so it 
is with the Christian ; he must bear with many a thing in 
his way to heaven — many a cross and affliction ;. but come, 
take up your cross and bear it ; bear under it, and run with 
patience till glory crown your perseverance. And this leads 
us to consider, 

IV. The immense number of witnesses we have as spec- 
tators of our patient conduct. The first great witness is Je- 
sus ! the faithful and true witness ! His eye is ever on your 
endeavours ! But whom did Paul particularly mean ? 

If I could withdraw the dimming veil which prevents us 
from viewing the immense numbers of those ministering spir- 
its who are about the heirs of salvation ! what a scene would 
rush upon your astonished view ! Could I but draw the veil 
of mortality from each of your eyes, and show you the world 
of spirits, direct you to their anxious solicitude, that you 
should run steadily in the way, and show you how they re- 
joice when you press on to attain the blissful station ; and 
point out to you the immense number of those pious souls 
with whom you took sweet counsel upon earth, who long to 
renew the correspondence, and who, for this purpose, are 
about your path, going out and coming in, and about your 
beds at lying down and rising up, methinks you would be- 
gin to double your diligence in such a manner as you never 
yet have done ! 

Could I show the husband a wife, the parent a child ; 
could I but show you our venerable fathers in the Gospel, 
and point my finger to a Wesley, a Fletcher, a Coke, a 
Whitfield, and unfold their most ardent desires for your per- 
severance ; and could you but hear the rejoicings of those 
blessed saints when you run well, and the encouragement 
which such a state would afford, it would constrain you to 
"lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily be- 
set you," and be "followers of them who, through faith and 
patience, inherit the promises :" 

" Angels now are hovering round us, 
Unperceived they mix the throng." 



SPECIAL SALVATION. 55 

But, on the other hand, could you but look out of your- 
selves and see the attention of the world directed towards 
you; how many of those whom you least suspect are 
watching your private and public walk, and perhaps looking 
up to you as patterns to copy after, and who reproach that 
name whereby we are called when you slip on your jour- 
ney, methinks every latent spring would be strung to in- 
crease your care and alacrity to walk as becometh the chil- 
dren of God. (" Golden Ball." ) 

But must I stop here ? nay, I must not. Could I draw 
aside the sable curtain and show you the millions of wicked 
spirits who are about your path, lying in wait for your over- 
throw ; how all the machinations of hell are at work to se- 
duce you to sin, you would shake off the sloth and arise from 
the dust. " Satan, as a roaring lion, is now going about 
seeking whom he may devour." 

Shall all heaven, all hell, be concerned about you, and 
are not you concerned about yourselves ? Shall heaven 
weep at your indolence and hell grin applause at your indif- 
ference ? while angels weep, shall devils laugh and make 
you their sport ? May God stir you up ! may you start 
afresh now ; put your foot anew to the work, and run for 
your lives to our spiritual Zoar ! It is a serious subject; all 
is serious about you : be you therefore serious. * * 

# &###### 



SERMON VII. 

SPECIAL SALVATION. 

1 Timothy, iv., 10. — We inist in the living God, who is the saviour of all men, 
specially of those that believe. 

The chapter begins with, " Now the spirit speaketh ex- 
pressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the 
faith." Of all departures, none affect the vitals of religion 
more than the two opposite and extreme doctrines holding 
the ascendency in the minds of men. Some believe in a par- 
tial salvation, and others in a universal one, in an ^unscrip- 



56 SPECIAL SALVATION. 

tural sense. In neither of these extremes does the truth lie ; 
our text takes hold of both, and brings them to a true bearing. 

I. The general salvation in which all men are interested. 
II. The nature of that trust in God which interests us in 
a special salvation. 

III. What is that special salvation ? 

I. Without wearying ourselves with subtilties in answer 
to the question, how is God the Saviour of all men ? ask a 
plain man, one who comes under that class to whom the 
Gospel*4s preached, and would not he say, it means that 
God has afforded to all men some common mean of salva- 
tion ; that he alike designs the good of all, and that, in pur- 
suance of that design, he has done all that was consistent with 
his perfections, without infringing on the accountability of 
man. 

1. He has set forth the same Saviour, Jesus Christ, as the 
procuring cause of the salvation of all men. All who are 
saved, even infants and heathens, neither of whom know the 
name to which they are indebted for it, are saved by him. 
Thus Jesus did by his death bear away the sin of the world ; 
he redeemed all from the curse of the law, bought them from 
under the old covenant, and purchased a new covenant on 
better terms, which he offers to all. Thus he tasted death 
for every man ; the thunders of Sinai have ceased, and we 
have been brought under a dispensation of power and grace. 
Quote the Holy Ghost as authority — " He tasted death for 
every man." 

2. The salvation by Christ is not less extensive than the 
operating cause which God has communicated to all. As 
he gave his Son to die for every man, so he has imparted 
the gifts of the Holy Spirit to every man, whereof the Holy 
Ghost is also a witness. " Christ is the true light, that light- 
eth every man that cometh into the world." He elsewhere 
calls it the grace of God, and says it has appeared unto all 
men. And that none may say this is common grace and un- 
able to save, he says it is grace which " bringeth salvation" 
It is saving grace, and will lead to salvation. 



•SPECIAL SALVATION. 57 

|Nor is it more inconsistent to suppose that any for whom 
Christ died may perish, than any who have been partakers 
of the Holy Ghost : — yet this last is a fact admitted by all. 
The Holy Spirit is of equal dignity with the Son, and it is 
no detraction from him if this be the case with many.) 

3. The outward means, whereby we receive farther sup- 
plies of grace, are given to all men-. Not only is there an 
inward light, but an outward revelation. * * * " The Gospel 
of the grace of GodP y * * * Precious Bible ! To us this 
has appeared, and we are without excuse. The Gospel min- 
istry, the grand instrument in the salvation of men to whom 
this Gospel has appeared. # * * Gospel ordinances, wherein 
we are led from the outer to the inner place. These outward 
means are given to those who have received the Gospel. 

But the heathen world likewise, though they have not the 
Gospel or these outward means, are not thereby deprived of 
all means: " The heavens declare the glory of God;" his 
eternal power and Godhead may be understood from the 
things which are made ; and those among them who fear 
God and work righteousness will be accepted; but those 
who do not are left without excuse : every mouth is stopped . 

God is the Saviour of all men ; what could he have done 
more ? Christ has been given for all ! The power to em- 
brace him and his salvation is given to all ! outward means 
are afforded to increase the power, with an abiding promise, 
4t To him that improves, more shall be given." 

Why, then, are not all saved ? Our Lord shall answer 
you : " Ye will not come to me that ye might have life. 
How often would I, but thou wouldst not." Hear the words 
which St. Peter was inspired to speak : " Ye do always re- 
sist the Holy Ghost." Ye choose death in the error of your 
life. 

IL The nature of that trust in God which interests us in a 
special salvation. This includes a deep conviction of my 
need of salvation. Until this is felt, and painfully felt in me, 
I never can apprehend the mercy of God. 

Farther, a forsaking and loathing of sin. 

Again, a renunciation even of righteousness. Many are 

H 



58 THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEIR REWARD. 

out of the pale of salvation by righteousness [self-righteous- 
ness] as much as sin. 

"Or sin or righteousness remove." 

All this precedes the faith that justifies. 

I then believe, 1. That Christ is able, 2. Willing. I 
doubt no more. Finally, a personal apprehension of his mer- 
its to my individual case. I am saved, now saved. Lord, I 
believe. 

III. The effects are, 

1. Peace, the guilt all taken away ; joy follows. 

2. Power over sin. 

3. The witness of the Spirit. 

4. Deliverance from the fear of man — of death — of helL 
No fear. 

But oh ! the eternal salvation ! * *' * 



SERMON VIII. 

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEIR REWARD*. 
Psalm lviii. r 11. — Verily there is a reward for the righteous. 

Behold a Xerxes weeping over his army : similar to this, 
witness an incident in the life of Jesus ; he wept over Jerusa- 
lem, but carried his views much farther than the Persian 
monarch, even to their immortal state. Xerxes wept from 
disappointed ambition, Jesus, from compassion! Xerxes' 
lamentations regarded himself, Jesus' those whom he came 
to save. Xerxes wept like a haughty conqueror, Jesus like 
the Saviour of men ! 

What has, then, become of all the souls which have passed 
off the stage since Xerxes' time ? One generation has fol- 
lowed another ! but where are their spirits ? Have they 
sunk into non-existence ? has death put out the vital spark ? 
or only opened a passage for the spirits escape ? Where will 
the swarm finally settle ? where these souls find a resting- 
place ? We feel that immortality is the lot of man, and rea- 



THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEIR REWARD. 59 

son decides with us here. All nations have a glimmering 
hope of a hereafter. 

" Hope springs eternal in the human breast, 
Man never is, but always to be bless'd. 
The soul, uneasy and confined from home, 
Rests and expatiates in a world to come ! 
Lo the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind ; 
His soul-proud science never taught to stray 
Far as the solar walk or milky way ; 
Yet simple nature to his hope has given 
Behind the cloud-topp'd hill a humbler heaven." 

But when civilization came did not the light of science re- 
move this hope ? Nay, it acquired new strength. Revela- 
tion concurs with our reason here ; and on this point infidel- 
ity, in spite of herself, is one with revelation, resolving the 
question in favour of an existence after death. 

Now if the soul exist, it must be in a state of consciousness ; 
no other idea of its existence can be entertained ; it must be 
in happiness or misery. On what, then, will these depend ? 
Refer we this to the omnipotence of God ? Will he distrib- 
ute happiness and misery irrespective of human actions ? 
But we cannot separate his attributes, and with one, another 
wound. His power is inseparable from justice, holiness, 
truth, and goodness. Paul is authority here. " God is not 
mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup- 
tion, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap 
life everlasting." " If we live after the flesh we shall die, 
but if we, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the 
body, we shall live." This, then, is the seedtime — eternity 
the harvest ; and the text coincides with these reasonings. 

I. Inquire into our personal character — if righteous. 

Righteousness applies sometimes to Deity, again to other 
orders of beings, but chiefly to man. But Scripture says, 
M There is none righteous ;" yet again, " The Lord loveth 
the righteous." Do these oppose each other ? "We must 
explain the term. 

Righteousness is applied to God ; not that this is any rule 



60 THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEIR REWARD. 

of right foreign to himself. # # * Again, it is applied to 
his laws. ###### 

But, in reference to man, it may refer either to his inter- 
nal nature or to his external actions. When to the first, we 
find a parallel with the mind of God, as far as a finite mind 
can resemble the infinite. When to the second, outward 
conformity to inward congeniality of nature, abstinence from 
all evil. 

But we must view it in reference to man in two lights, a 
legal and an evangelical righteousness, The first is a purity 
of nature that never deviated from the rule of right ; its 
claims are not on mercy, but justice ; it is a stranger to re- 
pentance, for it has no transgression to lament or forsake ; it 
places no dependance on the mediatorial righteousness of 
Christ. 

This is the character of that individual who is legally 
righteous. But where does he live ? Not on earth ; once 
such a character existed in Adam ; also in the second Adam ? 
but in no others. Hence it is said there are " none righ- 
teous, no, not one;" and if no way of restoration had been 
provided, no man could be saved. 

But an evangelical righteousness presupposes man's guilt ; 
it appeals to mercy ; mercy is the foundation of its claim ; 
its essence arises from the pardon of sin through the mercy 
of God, revealed to the soul by Jesus Christ. To such the 
promise of reward is made. 

None being legally righteous, " God so loved the world 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus 
accepted it. — " Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a 
Saviour," and sent the heralds of salvation to all, inviting 
them to come to him through Jesus Christ. The first qual- 
ification is, that we feel our need of righteousness, and our 
cry must be, " God be merciful." # # # # 

# # # « Behold the Lamb of God that taketh 

away the sin of the world." The moment we see our mis- 
ery we have all the qualifications God requires for an inter- 
est in Jesus • and the moment we can relinouish all trust in 



THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEIR REWARD. 61 

everything else, even in our repentance, God receives us, 
speaks peace, &c, &c. 

The pardon of sin, then, is the foundation of evangelical 
righteousness, and new powers are implanted in the soul to 
bring forth fruits of righteousness and holy obedience* 
Growing in grace to the end, we are denominated righteous 
and entitled to the promise of reward. 

II. The reward. 

But here human language fails ; the Scriptures are highly 
figurative on this point, yet fall far below the reality. 

Perhaps there are in us, in embryo, powers hardly sus- 
pected and quite unknown. If so, the ploughman may yet 
rise above a Newton : the infant may furnish an illustration. 
But this we know, our powers will be suited to the realities ; 
but what the glory, the happiness will be — alas ! conception 
fails. 

The darkness of Providence will then be done away, and 
a great share of our happiness will be in reading over the 
old volume of Providence from the beginning of the world. 
Here we are under severe afflictions, there we may see, that 
if such and such a cross and sickness had not met us we had 
been ruined ; and we shall see why God weighed us down 
with afflictions till the storm of danger blew over. 

But we shall then more clearly contemplate the greatness 
of redeeming love in Jesus ! casting our crowns before him ! 

Again, the human mind is capable of endless progression. 
"What more pleasing than to stand on the margin of the 
ocean of infinite truths, and draw therefrom forever ! 
What new truths also may we learn from other spirits ! 

^B* ^** ^K* ^P 7r 7\? "7s* 

However, our business here is to acquire moral goodness 
and spiritual holiness. God has provided the means. If 
fitted for glory we shall inherit the reward. 

But, if otherwise, all these scenes will be reversed, and all 
the powers of the mind become so many inlets through 
which to pour calamity on the spirit ; calamity of which we 
have no more conception than of the reward of the righ- 
teous. Where, then, is the use of mere intellectual pow- 
ers (Voltaire), unsanctified learning ? If intellectual powers 
6 



62 OBSCURITY AND GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

are not made subservient to a preparation for heaven, how 
dreadful ! (Wesley's opinion of the philosophers.) 

Blessed are ye poor ! Come, still say, " God be merci- 
ful." If righteous your character, the reward is sure; the 
rest remaineth for the people of God. * * * 



SERMON IX. 

THE PRESENT OBSCURITY AND FUTURE GLORY OF 
THE RIGHTEOUS. 

A FUNERAL DISCOURSE. 

Matthew, xiii, 43. — Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom 
of their Father. 

The hand of death has touched us sore ; the cry of death 
has been heard in your chambers. We too feel the hand of 
death upon us ; the sentence is in ourselves : yet all feel a 
principle within that is proof against the stroke ; it only 
opens the door to liberate that immortal principle. True, 
many may shrink when the door opens— linger — nay, be 
forced to depart ; but, by the grace of God, the inhabitant 
within may long for its opening. 

See the importance of human life, the only basis of human 
usefulness ; for there is no work in the grave whither we 
are hastening. Oh ! redeem the time ; work while it is day. 
Our friend has been early removed, but he was found in the 
midst of his usefulness, doing the will of God. Reminded, 
then, are we, not of the brevity only, but the importance of 
life. Eternity takes its complexion from time — it is as we 
make it. Our departed friend is now reaping what he 
sowed. 

The text and context lead, by a parable, to the connexion 
of time and eternity. It is thus explained by Jesus himself : 
" He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man : the field 
is the world : the good seed are the children of the king- 
dom ; but the tares are the children of the wicked one : the 



OBSCURITY AND GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 63 

€nemy that sowed them is the devil : the harvest is the end 
of the world ; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore 
the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be 
in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth 
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things 
that offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them 
into a furnace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing 
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in 
the kingdom of their Father." 

In drawing some farther improvement from our subject 
let us consider, 

I. The present obscurity of the righteous. 
II. Their future manifestation. 

I. The present obscurity. 

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the king- 
dom of their Father ; implying that they are now waiting 
for the manifestation of the sons of God. God knows that 
eternity is long enough to shine in^ at present, therefore, he 
allows us to remain in comparative obscurity. 

I need not dwell on the character, the " righteous ;" you 
are often informed of it. Do ye not know that the righ- 
teous, and they only, shall inherit the kingdom of God ? 
Yes, you do know, by our ministry, that, unless washed and 
sanctified, you cannot be saved. Oh ! that you felt as much 
as you know. The righteous ! There are many such here 
to-night. 

The causes of the present obscurity are many. 

1. The character of the world in which they live. They 
are not at home here, but strangers and foreigners — born 
of heaven. The character is so glorious that the world 
has not the power to discern and estimate it. Hence 
Christians are disregarded ; though they are the salt of the 
earth, the leaven which preserves the world, yet the world 
knows it not, and despises them. " Now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; 
but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like 
him," A Christian is an enigma to a man of the world. 



64 OBSCURITY AND GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

(Southey undertaking to write the life of Wesley.) Hence 
they burn them. They are under a cloud now : not always 
g0 I— {Blind man and colours.) 

2. The station they generally occupy in the world. If all 
were men of eminence, the world might be struck. If kings 
had dipped their sceptres in righteousness,- and the nobles* 
# *- * But where are we to look ? "*Not many wise men 
after the flesh,, not many mighty, not many noble are call- 
ed." See Jesus standing like himself with the healed around 
him and, the dead rising, while he exclaims, "The poor have 
the Gospel preached to them." It is their peculiar heri- 
tage ; it is laid at the foot of the throne as- well as the thresh- 
old of the cottage, but the poor form the largest portion o£ 
the church : so they remain under a cloud, known only to 
their poor neighbours. They shine, but in corners, not on 
eminences. Look into our congregations. The poor hear 
us gladly. The poor encircle the Lord's table ! the poor 
rejoice. " I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and 
poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." 
Poverty, then, incrusts the diamond, and the lapidary has- 
not yet cleared it. Learning would not shine with the 
poor ; they follow him who drew his breath in a stable. 

3. The infirmities to which they are subject ; for exam- 
ple, of the mind. They cannot make their experience charm- 
ing to a fine ear, yet they may have the anointing of the 
Holy Ghost. " Once I was blind, now I see v n more than 
the infidels can say. Obscurity will be the consequence. 
Also bodily infirmities. — Lazarus. — Many precious saints 
send out their fragrance in the desert, &c. 

4. The humility with which they are clothed* Modesty 
may become criminal ; yet perhaps not real modesty. But 
it is one thing to be drawn out of a corner by the praise or 
driven out by the fear of man. They mind neither ; but, 
like Jesus, their voice is not heard in the streets j; they are 
u clothed with humility." Do not, then, strive to shine f 
this is not the shining place. Angels, in their visits to earth, 
^ways appear in the form of men — Satan as an angel of 
light. So with the children of both. 

II. The future manifestation of the righteous*- 



OBSCURITY AND GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 65 

The text announces their glory. When ? " Then shall 
the Son of man send forth his angels, and they shall gather 
out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do 
iniquity ;" then shall he clear the church. Then also, in the 
morning of the resurrection, shall the righteous shine forth ; 
yea, then shall they shine in their full glory, whatever other 
glory they may have previously. 

Three things to be remarked here. 

1. The place of their manifestation — "in the kingdom of 
their Father." We are not here dazzled with description; 
Jesus has softened it : the kingdom of our Father — Father 
waiting to take us home. While looking down, even now, 
he says, " This is my beloved Son, and I will spare him as 
a man spareth his own son that serveth him." What lan- 
guage ! His jewels as well as his children. True, this, in 
comparison with the former, is a coarse metaphor, but this 
we do not mind. He is now polishing ! we are in the cru- 
cible to be fitted for the Crucified's crown. At the last day 
he makes up his jewels, not gathers them, but sets them in 
his crown — he will deck it. The last mile is travelled over 
happily when home is in prospect. Stephen — going home 
under a shower of stones — beheld the Son of God standing" 
to receive him. Courage ! Endure hardness as good sol- 
diers of Christ Jesus. (Our ship tossed — but 

" There all the ship's company meet, 
Who sailed with the Saviour beneath." 

Yea, they shall enter under full sail — not like a shipwreck. 
May the entrance be abundant, swelling on the tide.) 

We are soldiers now, and are to keep our armour bright, 
and be always ready for the conflict : but then we shall un- 
buckle and put on the fine robe, renouncing the sword for the 
palm and the helmet for the crown of glory. Then let 
death come ! Dr. Rowland Taylor at Hadley, in Suffolk, 
a martyr of blessed memory, exclaimed, " Never better, 
soon at home ! only two stiles more to ascend, and then I 
shall reach my Father's house ;" he saw it through the smoke 
of the fire ! " I have," said Bede, " done my work, and am 
going home, and such a home !" " The best of all is," said 

I 



66 OBSCURITY AND GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

Benson, " I shall find my Father in his kingdom." Saints 
are now separated. * # * We warm towards Hottentots, 
&c, when converted; we long to see them. " The whole 
family in heaven and earth are our brethren." Many are 
escaping. (Allude to the deceased.) Who feels not that 
heaven has a portion of each of our families ? No gulf ex- 
ists between heaven and earth — it is between heaven and 
hell ; they cannot come to us, but we can go to them. There 
shall be Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the 
kingdom of God ; all the glory and wisdom of all ages, and 
the Lamb. They also shall be kings: 

" How can it be, my heavenly king, 
That thou shouldst us to glory bring, 
Make slaves the partners of thy throne, 
Decked with a never-fading crown 1 ?" 

2. Its splendour. Mark the figure — sun bursting from the 
clouds. The righteous do not now diminish its splendour 
abstractedly. Though not so perfect as in heaven, yet all 
the elements exist. See the clouds breaking at the bed of 
the dying saint. He does not sink like the sun into the 
ocean ; the rays penetrate the clouds like morning breaking 
upon the heavens ; they are tinged with glory while he is 
seen struggling through like the sun. Then I retire — the 
brightness dazzles me ; the veil drops, but the sun has risen 
into the heavenly galaxy ! 

Every veil shall then be removed ; the world shall then 
know both him and them. John, who had often seen him 
as the man of sorrows, once saw him as you shall then be- 
hold him : " His head and his hairs were white like wool, as 
white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and 
his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; 
and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had 
in his right hand seven stars ; and out of his mouth went a 
sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun 
shining in his strength." Then the world shall be there, and 
shall know them. Nero and Domitian shall meet with those 
whose blood they shed. But I will not go to the pillows 
of infamy ; yet all shall be there ! then they shall see them 
on the right hand owned by Jesus ! There shall be a pub- 



THE PROUD AND HUMBLE CONTRASTED. 67 

He manifestation. I know which place I would rather have, 
the cruel tyrant's or that of the saint tortured by him. Then 
shall we discern between the righteous and the wicked ; no 
matter how splendid sinners are here, rich and poor shall be 
alike there. Now the Neros" call on rocks and mountains to 
fall on them, and hide them from the face of Him that sit- 
teth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb." But 
the saints will mount above the fire with bodies like Christ's ; 
no infirmity, or tear, or sigh shall pollute heaven's atmo- 
sphere : no note of sorrow to disturb the celestial harmony ! 

3. The perpetuity of their manifestation ; it shall be "as 
the sun:" the very emblem of perpetuity— not diminished 
by age, but the same now as when it lighted Adam and 
Noah — not in the least shorn of its beams. 

Yet, unlike the sun, the redeemed spirit shall enlarge, 
lengthen his beams, and travel the path of eternity with in- 
crease of splendour forever. It rises above the figure : -the 
sun shall be put out — never so the sons of glory. Jeho- 
vah shall be the glory in the midst of them forever and 
ever. 

Application. — Why should any of you set in darkness ! 
The loss of a soul ! Will it be my soul ? Tell me, my 
God ! Or that man's ? God forbid ! Why should they 
die when thou hast died ? * # # # 

— Memoir of the deceased — * # # # 



SERMON X. 

THE PROUD ABASED AND THE HUMBLE EXALTED. 

ADDRESSED TO CHILDREN. 

1 Peter, v., 5. — God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. 

One of the greatest evils in the world is pride, and one 
of the greatest blessings humility ; the blessing is the cure 
of the evil. I treat it simply for you, children. Pride and 
Humility. 

I. The folly of pride. 



68 THE PROUD AND HUMBLE CONTRASTED. 

1. Are we proud of our strength ? It is far inferior to 
that of many beasts. Our feebleness is so great and infirm- 
ities so many that horses and mules must carry us. 

2. Our clothing ? It is not so pretty as the peacock's. 
(Fable of the Jackdaw in others' feathers.) Other animals 
are always alike; we metamorphose, clothing wears out, 
and is our shame. What is deficient in the head they 
make up at the heels ; or what is wanting inside they put 
out. 

3. Our beauty ? It is inferior to many flowers. When 
most florid and gay, three fits of the ague change into yellow- 
ness, leanness, hollowness, and wrinkles. After all it be- 
comes food for worms ! But so have I seen a rose. * * * 
(Taylor, p. 10.) 

4. Our riches ? That man is a fool who prides himself 
upon these ; for, if exalted above his neighbour because he 
has more gold, how much inferior is he to a gold-mine ! He 
is below a chain of pearls or a knot of diamonds. 

5. Our birth ? He who plumes himself upon this is proud 
of the blessings of others, not his own. He ought to thank 
God and be humbled. It is generally true that he has in 
himself less virtue and honour than those who raised his 
family, and has degenerated. Cicero's expression. * * 

If thou hast more than thy neighbour, thou art more in- 
debted to God, and wilt have to account for principal and 
interest : foolish to boast of being more in debt. 

Pride was not made for man ; it is his fool's coat. A 
proud man is like a puff-ball — wind ! 

II. The wickedness of pride. 

1. Makes a man especially hateful to God. " The fear 
of the Lord is to hate evil ; pride, and arrogance, and the 
evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."* " Every 
one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord."t 
According to our text, pride arms God against us ; and ac- 
cording to others it turns him from us. It is of all things 
the most unlike God ! though he is the " high and lofty One 
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." Jesus Christ 
humbled himself; angels are servants of his that do his 
* Prov., viii., 13. t Pro v., xvi., 5. 



THE PROUD AND HUMBLE CONTRASTED. 69 

pleasure. All creation was made to be dependant; the 
proud man breaks the link : the highest title of man is ser- 
vant of God, and your servants for Jesus' sake. 

2. Pride is the most diabolical sin with which we are ac- 
quainted : " Being lifted up with pride, we fall into the con- 
demnation of the devil." 

3. It is the most productive of all sins ! Most of the 
crimes in the world may be traced to pride. It is the pa- 
rent of covetousness : " Yea, also, because he transgresseth 
by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who 
enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be 
satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth 
unto him all people."* Of persecution : " The wicked in his 
pride doth persecute the poor :"f of strife : " Only by pride 
cometh contention. "$ 

It was the sin of Absalom, Haman, Herod, and the Phar- 
isees. Yea, it was pride that instigated the death of Jesus. 

III. The destructiveness of pride. 

Seeing it is the participant of such crimes, no wonder it is 
the most destructive sin — a presage to the ruin of those in 
whom it reigns. " Pride goeth before destruction, and a 
haughty spirit before a fall." It is the forerunner of shame : 
" When pride cometh then cometh shame, but with the low- 
ly is wisdom. "$ Haughty Pharaoh and his host were over- 
thrown by pride. It was Haman's downfall as well as his 
sin. It brought Nebuchadnezzar from his throne to herd 
with beasts, and caused Herod to be eaten of worms. God 
has determined " it shall be abased" A proud man cannot 
receive the grace of God. " How can ye believe who re- 
ceive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that 
cometh from above ?" Therefore, in the world to come the 
proud go to their father the devil ; and what room for pride 
there ? Thus God resists them here, and puts them from 
him hereafter : " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

Secondly, we notice the cure of pride — Humility. 

1. Be convinced of its great excellency; it is directly op- 
posite to pride : " God resisteth the proud and giveth grace 

* Habak., ii., 5. t Psalm x., 2. % Prov., xiii., 10. $ Prov., xi., 2. 



70 THE PROUD AND HUMBLE CONTRASTED. 

to the humble." We are to be clothed with it. It ranks 
as a grace of superior eminence in Christianity. Jesus 
places it first among the beatitudes : " Who is greatest in 
the kingdom of Heaven ?" " I dwell in the high and holy- 
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to 
revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of 
the contrite ones." It is the humble that " shall be exalted" 
Humility never was taught by the philosophers. Well then 
did Jesus say, " Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in 
heart." While pride turned Lucifer into hell, humility ex- 
alted Jesus to the right hand of the Father. 

2. Store your mind with knowledge. Ignorance and im- 
pudence are twin-brothers : " He is proud knowing nothing, 
but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof 
cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings." # Become 
acquainted with your own sinfulness and the holiness of 
God. " When I survey thy heavens, the work of thy fin- 
gers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast created, what 
is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that 
thou visitest him."f To obtain knowledge read the Holy 
Scriptures, attend the ministry of God's word, pray, seek 
counsel of pious Christians : you will sink lower according- 
ly. God will give you grace, and afterward give you glory. 

3. Its effects. Consists not in railing against yourself. 
Thou likest not others to speak ill of thee. Sayest thou, " I 
am a fool ?" May I say it of thee ? If it be thy opinion, 
all men wish others to think as they do ; if not, thou art a 
hypocrite. He who calls himself intemperate, foolish, &c, 
and is angry when his neighbour calls him so, is false and 
proud. 

It consists more in feeling than saying : it is a sense of 
grace — the fulness of God in the soul. A noble mind is 
distressed at the attentions of his superior : so here. Such 
a person is ashamed of sin only. Ashamed of doing a dis- 
honourable thing, will not stoop to sin ! Humility is the 
first, second, and third Christian grace. 

Improvement. — -1. Never be ashamed of birth, parents^ 
trade, or poverty. The humble man will speak of them 
* 1 Tim., vi., 4. t Psalm viii., 3, 4. 



THE PROUD AND HUMBLE CONTRASTED* 71 

when any occasion offers requiring it. Primislaus, king of 
Bohemia, kept his country shoes. Agathocles, king of Si- 
cily, by the furniture of his table confessed he had been a 
potter. 

2. Let others be praised in thy presence ; object nothing : 
his disparagement increases not thy worth. Be content that 
he is employed and thou art rejected, he preferred and thou 
fixed in a low employment. "With some, one fly is enough 
to spoil a whole box of ointment. 

3. Nay, exalt thy brother, if truth and God's glory need 
it ; the Christian standard is not sufficiently held up : " In 
honour preferring one another." " Esteem the other breth- 
ren more than thyself." Cyrus played only with those more 
skilful than himself, lest he should shame them by his victo- 
ry, that he might learn something of them, and do them ci- 
vilities. 

Do not suppose that I want you to be indifferent to a 
good name ; no ; I would that all might speak well of you. 
But secure it by living virtuously and humbly. Be content 
to be loved and prized by God alone. Let your good name 
be nursed abroad, and never brought home to look upon. 
Let others use it ; let them speak of it if they please, but not 
thou at all except as an instrument to God's glory and thy 
neighbour's advantage. Like Moses's face, shine to others^ 
but make no looking-glass to thyself. 



72 SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 

SERMON XL 

SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 

PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF COMMENCING THE ERECTION OF A 
NEW CHAPEL IN DUBLIN. 

Ezekiel, xsix., 17-2®. — And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in 
the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me 
saying : 

Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great 
service against Tyrus ; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled ; 
yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served 
against it : 

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon ; and he shall take her multitude, and take her 
spoil, and take her prey ; and it shall be the wages for his army. 

I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, 
because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God. 

" Surely the Lord doeth nothing but he revealeth his se- 
crets unto his servants the prophets. When he would bring 
in the flood upon the ungodly, he divulged the secret to 
Noah. From Abraham he would not hide the thing he was 
about to do in the destruction of the cities of the plain* 
When by his judgments he resolves to punish the house of 
Eli j he lodges the heavy tidings with Samuel. To Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel he announces the doom of surround- 
ing nations," What a friendship have God's children with 
him ! 

I. Consider the circumstances which led to this prophecy. 
II. The instruction which it is intended we should draw 
from it. 

I. The circumstances which led to this prophecy. 

We might carry up the origin of this prophecy higher 
than the time of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah ; but this 
is sufficient for the present purpose. That unhappy monarch 
ascended the throne of Judah by the mere suffrage of Neb- 
uchadnezzar, whose vassal he had become, and that at a 



SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED, 73 

time when the sorrows of his house were before his eyes, and 
with a consciousness that the Lord had brought them upon 
him because " Jehoiakim did that which was evil in the sight 
of the Lord, according to all that his father had done." Not- 
withstanding, " Zedekiah did that which was evil in the sight 
of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done." 
He had now filled up the measure of his fathers. There is 
a time in national wickedness as well as individual, when 
the cup of iniquity overflows and the guilty are given up to 
the sword. God having withdrawn his protection from the 
Jewish nation, it became an easy prey to Nebuchadnezzar. 
Having cast off the fear of the Lord and confined his prophet 
Jeremiah, Zedekiah made a treaty with Pharaoh- Hophra, 
king of Egypt, engaging his aid in breaking off the Baby- 
lonian yoke, though he had sworn a solemn allegiance to 
Nebuchadnezzar. The consequence is known : Nebuchad- 
nezzar sends his army, Jerusalem is destroyed, the Temple 
is burned with fire, and the royal family slain except Zede- 
kiah, whose eyes were put out. 

The proud and haughty inhabitants of Tyre exulted in the 
overthrow of the Jews (see chap, xxviii., 24). God will not 
suffer his judgments to cause exultation in others, but rather 
fear and trembling. — ■" Has God cut off the Jews and grafted 
thee in ? Be not high minded, but fear. " 

The prophet therefore denounced their doom, for their 
pride reached to heaven (see chap, xxvi., and xxviii., 2). 
Nebuchadnezzar, eager for conquest, proceeded against 
Tyre ; thirteen years he besieged it, and when at length it 
yielded to his power he found only the bare walls of a de- 
serted city. The inhabitants had removed, with all their 
wealth, to that part of their town which stood on an adja- 
cent island. 

Having failed in his expectations, Egypt is promised him ; 
Egypt had offered her power to Zedekiah, and forsook him 
in the moment of his greatest need ; and God now gave it 
to Nebuchadnezzar, thus punishing both the perfidious Egyp- 
tians and the rebellious Israelites, and at the same time re- 
warding the Babylonians. Thus was the wrath of Nebu- 
chadnezzar overruled and made to praise God : he had no 
7 K 



74 SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 

design of glorifying God therein, but God caused him so to 
do. Having briefly noticed the circumstances which led to 
the prophecy contained in our text, we notice, 

II. The lesson of instruction which we are to draw 
from it. 

1. This passage affords us a striking view of, and insight 
into, some of the mysterious acts of God's Providence. We 
find an effect depending upon its cause, which effect in itself 
becomes a second cause, and produces other results depend- 
ing on it ; and all suspended from the throne of God. Of- 
ten do we see him skirting his throne with darkness and con- 
cealing his ways from man ; acting altogether independent- 
ly of the creature's wisdom, and refusing to admit him into 
his council-chamber or answer his question, " What doest 
thou ?" 

"We cannot always account for the acts of his Providence ; 
and because we see not as God sees, we naturally feel in- 
clined to insult the Deity with our advice or encumber him 
with our help ; and when both the instructions and assist- 
ance of man are rejected, when the Almighty pours ineffa- 
ble contempt on his little plans and cobweb fortresses, the 
disappointed creature begins to think that the pillars of the 
universe are shaken, that heaven and earth are to participate 
in that wretchedness which he has procured to himself, and 
perish in sympathy with his ruined hopes and expectations." 

Doubtless the revolutions of which we have been speaking 
were covered by the veil of futurity from those who were 
immediately concerned therein ; but time having drawn that 
veil aside, we, upon whom the ends of the world are come, 
can clearly read this subject in the volume of God's provi- 
dential dealings ; and therein discover him riding upon the 
whirlwind, holding the winds in his fist, and saying to the 
waves, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." 

It is thus that we perceive the glory of his power as the 
moral Governor of the universe ; and while we gaze with 
wonder, we adore ! We behold how he can maintain his 
throne in the midst of the commotions of the universe ; that 
no earthquake, throe, or agony in the terrestrial world can 
shake the foundations of its pillars or remove it from its 



SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 75 

steadfastness ; and as the Governor of the world, we are 
struck with the harmony of all his actions and the power 
whereby he extracts the good from every ill ! 

If the sins of nations or individuals were always immedi- 
ately followed with the punishment they merit, this world 
would not be a state of probation ; obedience would not be 
voluntary, but forced ; we should walk, not by faith, but by 
sight ; we should not honour God by our confidence in his 
perfections and in the dispensations of his Providence. He 
would not be a God hiding himself, nor would his judgments 
be a great deep ; nay, the whole nature and design of reli- 
gion would be subverted ; man would have no room for trust 
in God ; he could have no reason to rely upon him in the 
dark and gloomy day, nor in any state of darkness to stay 
upon his God. If his wrath instantly crushed, he would be 
the destroyer rather than the governor of the world. To 
destroy is easy, and discovers little perfection ; it is the per- 
fection of a tyrant. But the wisdom of God appears in 
making even the wrath of man to praise, and engaging that 
the remainder of that wrath he will restrain. This, then, is 
the plan upon which he acts in the government of the world, 
and hence he is called a wise Governor. 

Whatever, then, may be the gloom which overspreads us 
as a nation ; whatever may be the raging of infuriated men 
who would make the people the panders of their purposes 
and the instrument to forward their selfish designs ; what- 
ever may be the cloud which hangs over the domestic cir- 
cle — should it be caused by a depression in circumstances 
without any pleasing future prospect, at the same time that 
you can behold an ungodly neighbour who uses not half your 
industry, and yet seems to prosper in all he takes in hand ; 
or should it be caused by something nearer your skin, nay, 
by very bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh ; should 
there be a lost Joseph or a rebellious Absalom, an unfortu- 
nate Dinah, or a Simeon wanting — whatever may be the 
gloom which at times appears to cover the ark of God among 
you, and for a while to obscure its glory, yet remember there 
is a God, who is over all, blessed forever ; he inspects all 
your affairs, he hears all your petitions whenever you make 



76 SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED 

known your requests unto him, and his voice is heard in> 
every storm— " What thou knowest not now thou shalt know 
hereafter. " Refer all events to his Providence ; follow his 
openings ; where he appoints you, go ; be led by his finger ; 
commit your cause to> him in well doing ; trust in the Lord 
and do good ; and though he may plant his footsteps in the 
sea and ride upon the storm, yet 

" Soon tbou shalt, wond'ring, own his way- 
How wise, how good his hand !" 

2. Behold an instance of the goodness and severity of 
God ! Long did he spare that rebellious nation, the Jews ; 
often did he warn them, sending his prophets morning and 
evening, rising up early, and late taking rest, to call them to 
a sense of their duty towards him. But they steeled their 
hearts against conviction, and would none of his advice ; 
sometimes he thundered judgments ; but their hearts^ totally 
empty and free from righteousness, echoed them back to the 
heedless gale ; sometimes he allured, but they had no ear 
for the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely, At 
last he complains of them, they were like bullocks unaccus- 
tomed to the yoke ; he fed them at his own stall ; he gave 
them his easy yoke of duties, which ought to have been de- 
lightful, coming from so kind a hand ; but alas ! they would 
not draw in it by gentle treatment ; he goaded them by cor- 
rections ; they kicked against the pricks, and ran back upon 
his chastisements ; they were like a backsliding heifer ! But 
behold the severity of God ! The cup of their iniquity was 
full ; Manasseh had greatly contributed to it ; he had ex- 
pressed a great quantity of the roots of bitterness into their 
portion, and his successors after him, with the exception of 
Josiah, added to it ; till Zedekiah completed the measure 
and drew down on them wrath to the very uttermost. 

And is it so that, in the affairs of nations as of individu- 
als, a period may arrive when God shall be provoked to give 
them to drink of the cup of his indignation, and that to the 
very dregs ? Yes ; national wickedness has its measure as 
well as individual crimes. With regard to ourselves, long 
have we, as a nation, known the loving kindness of the 
Lord. Behold his goodness to thee, oh happy, happy Is- 



SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 77 

rael ! who is like unto thee ? the prophets of the Lord have 
risen early and late taken rest, seeking for the health of the 
daughters of thy people ! you have no famine of the word 
of life ; it is brought into your very houses, and you are in- 
structed around the social hearth in the lessons of redeeming 
love ! Would to God you had made proficiency according 
to your privileges ! Because we have not, sometimes the 
rod has been applied to us as a nation, but oh ! how slight 
have been its corrections ! how gentle did the hand of love 
apply it ! in judgment he remembered mercy ; he kept not 
his anger forever. One year he smote us with the pesti- 
lence, another by a scarcity of bread, and yet the people 
have not returned unto the Lord : now he lays aside the 
chastisements and fills our storehouses with the overflowings 
of his Providence ; all nature teems with life ; he has pro- 
vided food in abundance for man and beast. 

u Oh ! may thy love constrain and force us to thy breast !" 

Yet, in the midst of all this glory of the Divine goodness, 
a gloom has settled upon a part of our horizon ; yet, has our 
God forsaken us ? Has he delivered us up to the madness 
of the people ? No ; Britain is not forsaken of her God ; 
but, as in nature the greatest gloom immediately precedes 
the bursting of the gates of light to usher in the morning's 
dawn ; as in grace the darkest moment of the dismal night 
In which the returning sinner struggles to get free immedi- 
ately precedes the rising of the sun of Righteousness upon 
his heart, so I trust it will be in these our lands. If ever 
England was alive to the cause of God, it is now ; if ever 
Ireland laid that cause to heart, this is the time. All sects 
and parties seem to have agreed to join neart and hand in 
the grand work of conducting the ark of God through the 
land of our inheritance. That reserve, that want of openness 
of soul, that suspicion of each other's welfare, which long 
caused them to raise walls and fortifications around each 
other's commonwealth, is now removed ; and now all the 
thousands of Israel have agreed with one consent to come 
out of their place and to sound the Gospel trumpet. The 
blessed effects are seen by every eye ; at its sound all party 



78 SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 

walls have tumbled down, and, as fellow-Christians, they re- 
joice to find themselves placed in a goodly land, flowing 
with milk and honey. The voice of Him whose Spirit has 
produced the mighty co-operation in Bible Institutions and 
Missionary Societies is heard to say, H Lift up now your eyes, 
and look from the place where you are, northward, and south- 
ward, and eastward, and westward ; for all the land which 
you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever. 
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the 
breadth of it, for I will give it unto you/ y 

w Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, 
The clouds ye so mueh dread 
Are big with mercy, and shall break 
In blessings o'er your head." 

God never did forsake a land or nation so long as such 
mighty designs were in preparation for evangelizing the 
world ! True, many in these lands do fill up the measure 
of their iniquity, and you may ask, why, then, are they not 
taken out of the way ? I answer, mankind are so variously 
and intimately blended together that it is scarcely possible 
to strike an individual only, without affecting others. Now 
the Judge will not punish indiscriminately ; he will not de- 
stroy the righteous with the wicked ; he would rather spare 
a thousand enemies than injure one friend. He would have 
spared Sodom if but ten righteous had been found therein ; 
and when this was impossible, the angel could not destroy 
that city until Lot went out. God knows that plucking up 
the tares would injure the wheat, and this he will not do. 
This is the security of Britain. She possesses men who 
could fearlessly stand and conquer in the field, yet she has 
a stronger force, who occupy the camp at home ; holy, faith- 
ful men, who stand before the Lord, and have power to pre- 
vail with him for her prosperity ; and a wise senate is fully 
satisfied, as was our beloved monarch, that in proportion to 
the piety of the nation would be the stability of the realm. 
The prayers of the faithful have been heard ; their prayers- 
are heard ; their prayers will yet be heard ! Her shores are 
not rendered defensible merely by her towering cliffs, which 
vie in colour with the drifting snow, but the glory of ther 



SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 79 

Lord cast around her is her defence ! And will God for- 
sake us at such a juncture, when from our lands the word 
of God is sounding forth and the ends of the earth are hear- 
ing the joyful sound ! 

" Oh ! may it sound from shore to shore 
Till sun shall rise and set no more !" 

God grant that the time may speedily arrive when it may 
be said, 

" The dwellers in the vale and on the rocks 
Shout to each other ; and the mountain tops 
From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; 
Till nation after nation taught the strain, 
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round !" 

3. But the principal instruction to be derived from this 
text, and to which I would particularly direct your attention, 
is, that service of any kind done for God never goes unre- 
ivarded. None can be losers by anything they do for him : 
in one way or other he will surely recompense them. Even 
services done for him by worldly men obtain a temporal re- 
ward : " The Egyptian females, though strangers from the 
commonwealth of Israel, yet feared the Lord, and therefore 
' God dealt well with them and built them houses.' " See 
Jehu's case,* Also the case in the text. This indeed is a 
poor recompense ; it may appear splendid in the eye of the 
Vain and sensual, but the righteous are far from envying 
it ; they dread to be excluded from future recompense by 
the sentence, " They have their reward." They are more 
afraid of their destiny than of the malice of the wicked, and 
therefore pray, " Arise, O Lord, deliver my soul from the 
wicked, which is thy sword : from men which are thy hand, 
O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in 
this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure : 
they are full of children, and leave the rest of their sub- 
stance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in 
righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy 
likeness." Egypt was all the remuneration of Nebuchadnez- 
zar, and what could it do for him ? What is it to him 
now ? But the righteous are had in everlasting remem- 

* 2 Kings, ix., 7-10, and x., 16, 29, and 30. 



80 SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 

brance ; their reward is not confined to this life, though here 
they generally reap according to that they sow ; but this is 
not all : "I heard a voice from heaven saying unto rae f 
write, from henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord ; even so sailh the Spirit ; for they rest from their la- 
bours, and their works do follow them." Yea, saith the 
Spirit, they rest from their labours^ and their works are yet 
to follow them. They will draw in their train eternal con- 
sequences, and God will render to every one according to 
his works. 

When I speak of service done for God I would not be 
supposed to say that the utmost of the powers of any crea- 
ture could render any true and proper service to the Crea- 
tor, He is independent of the creature ; the cause can 
never be dependant on its effect ; he could act both in the 
natural and moral world without human agency ; and doubt- 
less he would have done so had it been as agreeable to 
his wisdom as it was easy to his power. In the case before 
us he could have sent an angel, as he did to the Assyrians^ 
to destroy them. But where would be the reward, of the 
faithful steward ? In the moral world the power which he 
manifested on the day of Pentecost might be again exert- 
ed. But what room, then, for the work of faith, the labour 
of love, and the patience of hope ? It is in making the one 
subservient to the other that he has strengthened the bands 
which unite society together, and accepts services of his 
creatures as if done for himself. 

We are sometimes afraid of touching on these subjects, 
lest we should seem to incline to the doctrine of a salvation 
by works ; and some of our hearers are occasionally offend- 
ed if works are mentioned at all : none, however, will come 
under this character but such as profess Christ in words, but 
in works deny him ; such as cry, Lord, Lord ! but know 
nothing of going about doing good. Show me thy faith 
without thy works, and Saint James shall tell thee it is no 
more than the faith which devils possess ; it produces no 
fruit. But the Christian gives evidence of the genuine char- 
acter of his faith by his works: " I will show thee my faith 
by my works ;" and though good works are not the merito- 



SERVICE FOR GOD ALWAYS REWARDED. 81 

nous condition of our title to eternal life, yet they are the 
twin graces of genuine faith, and, according to their number 
and kind, will be the gift of eternal glory ; for it is by works 
that we give evidence of the strength of that principle from 
which they were produced, the love of God shed abroad in 
the heart, or Christ dwelling there by faith. Where this ex- 
ists they will follow as necessarily as an effect its cause ; and 
if God have blessed us with ability, we shall abound — over- 
flow in every good word and work. 

Would to God the natural selfishness of many professing 
Christians were overcome ! How few are the number of 
our Dorcases, those who not only relieve, but go and re- 
lieve ; seek out the haunts of wretchedness, the charnel- 
houses of death, soften the pillow of the dying saint, and ad- 
minister to Christ through his afflicted members. Did Chris- 
tians consider more that this is the very rule of judgment on 
which God will try the world, they would practise as well 
as profess. How can they expect to hear it said, " I was an 
hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave 
me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and 
ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in pris- 
on, and ye came unto me ?" Oh ! if a blush could tinge the 
immortal countenance, would it not be excited by the recol- 
lection, of how seldom did we perform such acts ; and if 
pain could possess their glorified nature, would it not be pro- 
duced by the wish, " Oh ! that I had loved Him more and 
served Him better !" 

But, brethren, we hope better things of you, though we 
thus speak ; and things which pertain to salvation. We 
trust that your obedient hearts are ever waiting for opportu- 
nities of doing good, and that your cry continually is, " Lord, 
what wouldst thou have me to do ?" " Make known thy 
will, and as thou hast freely given me, I will feely render 
back to thee. Only honour me by making use of me, either 
my time, talents, substance, health, strength, life, nay, death 
itself; suffer me to be thy slave, and to lay all at the feet of 
that Saviour who laid his very life at my feet that I might 
rise exalted by his fall and find in him my all in all !" 

You are aware that, at the conclusion of this service, as 

L 



82 PURE RELIGION. 

many of our friends as can, are requested to retire into the 
lobby of the house, for the purpose of making final arrange- 
ments for the building of a house for God in Lower Abbey- 
street. God has put it into your hearts to build him a house, 
and he has conferred an honour upon you which your chil- 
dren after you would covet to have been favoured with ; he 
will make you his artificers, and thereby put upon you 
double honour. 

My heart bounds at the thought that many will meet * 
m ' : # # # # # 



SERMON XIL 

PURE RELIGION. 

PREACHED IN BEHALF OF THE ORPHAN ASYLUM IN DUBLIN. 

James, i., 27. — Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To 
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from 
the world. 

In the days of St. James as well as in our own time, many 
were the pretenders to religion and virtue ; many who were 
not doers of the word, but hearers only, deceiving their own 
souls. They could not, however, deceive him with whom 
they had to do, before whose eyes all things are naked and 
open ; dissected in all their parts, whose very word is sharper 
than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder soul and spirit : 
# % # # % # To 

such professors St. James hesitates not to declare, that all 
such religion is vain ; vain as it regards the creature, who is 
the subject of it, or the Creator, who is its professed object, 
and utterly incompatible with the pure religion of the Lord 
Jesus, required by God and the Father. 

The particular tenet which they appear to have held was 
this : they pleaded for the necessity of faith in the merit of 
the atonement made by the Lord Jesus as the only way of 
our justification, but denied the necessity of those works 
which are the proper evidences of it, concluding that, as his 



PURE RELIGION. 83 

work of redemption was a perfect act, and made for the in- 
dividual case of man, a belief in the sufficiency of that atone- 
ment is all that God will require : satisfying themselves that 
they stood perfect in him by a mistaken application of the 
terms, they folded their arms in apathy and sung, 

" Before the throne our surety stands, 
Our names are written on his hands." 

This system is yet held in honour by thousands of mankind 7 
although its dogmas have been so completely exploded by 
the apostle ; but others there are who, to avoid this track, 
strike off in quite another direction. Such enforce the ne- 
cessity of good works as the meritorious condition upon 
which eternal life is suspended, and the only requisite, or, at 
least, the pre-eminent one, for its enjoyment ; for if they do 
not reject the belief of the merits of the atonement of the 
Lord Jesus out of their scheme, yet it is brought in merely 
as an appendage to the former, and thrown altogether in the 
back ground ; or if, in some, it assume the first place, yet 
their faith appears a principle of so weak and debilitated a 
nature that it has rather the appearance of a human than of 
a Divine and Almighty origin : it is not a faith which makes 
all things of God and purines the heart ; good works are 
therefore the title upon which they look for the enjoyment 
of God, conceiving that, where these are possessed, this will 
be a countervailing balance for any other deficiencies ; nay, 
leave even a surplusage on the Book of Life. 

Now both these classes come under the character of those 
whom St. James calls " seeming to be religious," for they 
have both a semblance of religion ; they have both copied 
after the likeness of the heavenly maid in the attitude of 
profile, each looking at different sides of her person; but 
neither of them bear her true image, for the symmetry of the 
whole figure is not discoverable in either position ; the one 
has produced her portrait as in the act of laying hold on the 
Deity with the one hand, and the other, looking at the other 
side, has displayed her as scattering abroad to man ; but as 
she never lets her left hand know what her right hand doeth, 
so it is impossible to form a proper judgment of the beauty 
of her whole person but in a full front likeness ; then we 



84 PURE RELIGION. 

behold her in the act of faith attached to the Deity on the 
one hand, and scattering the heavenly seed on the other, en- 
riched and enriching; though poor in herself, for she is but 
a receiver, yet making many rich. 

I. Consider St. James's definition of pure religion. 
II. Consider the case of the objects to which he directs 
our attention. 

III. The claims they have on us, and our duty with re- 
gard to them. 

I. Consider St. James's definition of pure religion. 

And here we are naturally led to look at its genuine ef- 
fects : 1. Upon the heart : and, 2. In the life. 

1. Upon the heart — " Keep himself unspotted from the 
world." Very much is implied in the expression, and must 
be presupposed by us ; the apostle is describing pure religion, 
and speaking of a heart where " graces reign and love in- 
spires the breast." But this state was attained by gradual 
progression ; this spiritual creation had its beginning like 
the natural one ; the soul was a chaos, or, rather, a stagnation 
of impurity ; the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters ; that Spirit which is only known by his effects, and 
which, in the first stage of the new creation, passes over the 
soul like the wind that goeth whither it listeth ; you hear the 
sound, you feel its effects, but cannot tell whence it cometh 
or whither it goeth: God has spoken it, " Let the new cre- 
ation be," and all things begin to rise good and fair ! 

This is the first state of a justified believer ; the soul is 
now opened to receive the spring of living water which 
is to throw off the waters of impurity and to cleanse the 
heart ; it rises at first by slow degrees, but the recipient 
is a worker together with God, believing and receiving 
all the aid of the power of God working in him mightily ; 
exulting in new powers, he feels the Spirit of God now 
as a sanctifier ; he knows him not now in his transient 
operations, first moving upon his soul as the inspiration 
of God, but as the influence of God ; not breathing upon, 
but flowing in and through his heart. The communion 



PURE RELIGION, S# 

of this nether spring being kept up with the upper fount- 
ain, as he receives the full truth in the love thereof, he is 
made fully free, and " out of his belly flow rivers of living 
water :" now his experience is, that the blood of Jesus Christ 
momentarily cleanses him from sin ; and Christ dwells in 
that heart by faith. He has now his fruit unto holiness, for 
his conscience is purged from dead works to serve the liv- 
ing God. This is a mystery which the wise men of this 
world know not ; it is spiritually discerned ; for this mys- 
tery of faith is only kept up in a pure conscience, in one 
who is full fraught with Christ in a pure believing heart ; 
and though many an obstacle or mound may be raised up 
by the world or the devil, to divert the course of the tide of 
Divine feeling, yet, as it partakes of the nature of the upper 
fountain, it bears down all before it : and it will also find its 
way back to that Deity from whence it issued, and be one 
with Christ as Christ is one with God. But this final absorp- 
tion into the Deity can only be the reward of one who " keeps 
himself unspotted from the world." Though he may know 
God as a Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, yet he needs 
a continual influence of the grace of Christ to keep him in 
this state; no attainment, however elevated, can be pre- 
served merely because it was attained, and hence St. Paul 
harmonizes with St. James, and gives this advice to Timo- 
thy, " keep thyself pure ;" informing him of some who, be- 
cause they lost purity of conscience, made shipwreck of that 
faith, which can be preserved under the skill of no other 
pilot. To this purport St. Peter mentions a possible case : 
that one who had once clean escaped the corruptions of the 
world, through lust might be again entangled therein. Per- 
haps the great cause which might induce to this, is a ceasing 
to press after more and more of the spiritual communion 
with God to which we are called ; a satisfying ourselves 
with present attainments, not anxious to seek after more of 
that spiritual food, by which alone the inner man can grow 
with all the increase of God — in the knowledge and love of 
God our Saviour ! 

Wo to them that are at ease in Zion ! The garment is 
become spotted and unlike those which are washed and made 

8 



86 PURE RELIGION. 

white in the blood of the Lamb ! This spiritual halting 
allows time for the world to steal a march upon us — 
then we begin to keep pace with it instead of keeping it in 
the rear, until by and by we feel that the love of the world 
has found its entrance into our hearts and the love of the 
Father is beginning to die away ! — " Keep yourselves un- 
spotted from the world !" Remember the bridegroom to 
whom you are espoused, keep yourselves chaste and holy ! 

2. Consider the effects of this religion in the life. Shall 
such a one hide this righteousness in his heart ? Shall such 
a tree bear fruit to itself ? No ! impossible ! St. James 
shows us in this chapter the process of the growth of this 
plant of God in the heart of a believer. Having cleared the 
ground and lopped off every superfluity of naughtiness, and 
thus proved himself sincere in the sight of God, he receives 
with meekness the ingrafted word, the scion of life, present 
and eternal. 

Having now received the seed of the kingdom of God, 
which is able to save his soul, it begins to be operative in 
his life as well as in his heart ; his happy soul feeling its 
freedom and possessing the principle of all true obedience, 
he is now a doer of the word and not a hearer only, and the 
seed is now discoverable in the green blade. Continuing in 
this growth by taking good heed to the grace bestowed, 
looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing there- 
in, willing to be taught of God, ever praying for light, 
" What I know not, teach thou me," the green ear becomes 
visible, and he is now pronounced blessed in his deeds ; he 
is blessed or happy in his employ, even here ; and he sees 
an eternity of happiness awaiting him hereafter. 

But wherein consists this green ear ? It is in his ivorks, as 
St. James says, not in his words merely ; hereby he giveth 
evidence that his faith is alive and vigorous ; and as every 
tree is known by its fruit, so hereby he knows that he loves 
God because he keeps his commandments ; the heavenly 
seed of pure religion has sprung up in his heart, and its fruit 
ripens to maturity, while he " visits the fatherless and wid- 
ows in their affliction." Thus it increases until its branches 
are borne down with fruit ; the plant which produced them 



PURE RELIGION. 87 

is then removed to the upper Eden, and the fruit gathered 
into the heavenly garner. " Blessed are the dead which die 
in the Lord from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labours:" the Spirit attests the blessed- 
ness #####* 

Thus we see what true religion is, and the fruit it pro- 
duces. 1. That it is free from sin and purifies the heart, 
while it reigns and keeps the possessors of it unspotted from 
the world, thus suited in every respect to the purity of God, 
introducing its subject, by meekness and poverty of spirit, 
into the kingdom of grace here, and by purity of heart into 
the kingdom of glory hereafter. " Blessed are the poor in 
spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." " Blessed are 
the pure in heart ; for they shall see God." 

2. The man who possesses this religion will show it, so 
far as he has ability and opportunity, in visiting the father- 
less and the widows, not in a mere formal and fruitless man- 
ner, but relieving them in their distress and giving them 
continued protection. Piety in the heart appears in the life ; 
" loving him that begat," he will love those who were made 
in his image ; and thus will works give evidence of the gen- 
uine character of the faith within. Thus true faith is found 
to be the magnetic needle which unites him to God ; it is a 
faith working by love, which will ever produce good works, 
even to whatever bearing its point may be directed, in its 
trivial variations, caused by the various climes in which we 
have imbibed our different opinions ; yet its deviations will 
not be very material ; for if it have been truly touched by 
the great Magnet from on high, it will naturally tend to the 
bright and morning star, and attract within its influence all 
the opportunities of doing good which come into contact with 
it. But this power was not in itself ; it was the effect of the 
application from above which gave it this direction to the 
Deity and this power to be beneficial to men. Thus all merit 
is found to centre in God, and all boasting is excluded ; 
God receives all the honour, and yet bestows on man a full 
reward : " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
goodness of God," &c, &c, &c. 

II. Consider the case of the objects to which St. James 
directs our attention. 



88 PURE RELIGION. 

The fatherless and the widow. In such a character as 
that I have described, all works of mercy will display them- 
selves, everything which can assimilate to God : he will be- 
come eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, nay, life to the dead ; 
the father of the poor, the friend of the friendless, the de- 
fender of the oppressed. 

But St. James only particularizes two of the objects of his 
regard, and confines the evidences of pure religion to the al- 
leviation of these two cases, for in these must the sufferings 
of every other state be included : cases painfully afflicting, 
blending in themselves every minor evil, and eclipsing, as 
with the darkness of death, every other shade of wo — the 
fatherless, the widow : cases which, although so painfully 
afflicting, are too apt to be disregarded, because no clam- 
orous wailing is heard in our streets, and in order to find out 
the unhappy sufferers it is necessary to visit this recess of 
misery, this receptacle of sorrow, this charnel-house of death 
— to visit the fatherless and the widow. 

Alas ! the time has rolled by when the orphan was not 
fatherless, when the widow was not bereaved ; contrast for 
a moment the awful change ! How pleasant the domestic 
scene of a family perfect and entire ; what happiness centres 
in that dwelling ; what heartfelt delight beams from the 
windows of the soul! "Seethe traveller! How joyfully 
does he hail the hour of his return when he shall occupy the 
vacant spot in his domestic circle. Behold the man of sci- 
ence ! Closing the volume of his deep research, he smooths 
his wrinkled brow, and in the cheerful, happy scene of his 
domestic bliss he forgets that he is the philosopher, and 
thinks himself the child ! Take the man of trade ! How 
cheerfully does he support the weariness of his calling 
throughout the livelong day, by the grateful thought that by 
and by the season of intercourse — sweet season — will arrive. 
Yonder comes the labourer ! He has borne the burden 
and heat of the day ; the descending sun has released him 
from his toil ; he is hastening home to enjoy repose. Half 
way down yonder lane, by the side of which stands a cot- 
tage, his children run to meet him ; one he carries and one 
he leads. The companion of his humble life is ready to fur- 



PURE RELIGION. 89 

snisli him with his plain repast. See ! his toilworn counte- 
nance assumes an air of cheerfulness ; his hardships are for- 
gotten, fatigue vanishes ; he eats and is satisfied. The even- 
ing is fair ; he walks with uncovered head around his gar- 
den; enters again and retires to rest; and the rest of the 
labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. In- 
habitant of this lonely dwelling ! who can be indifferent to 
thy comfort ! Peace be to this house J" 

How have their joys faded away ! How has the sweet 
fountain been made bitter I She had a husband, but he was 
taken from her by the hand of death ! They had a father ! 
but he is not ! Her head is as waters, their eyes as a fount- 
ain of tears ; they weep day and night ! Absorbed in sor- 
row, they neglect the wants of nature ; but she is urgent in 
her demands, and must be satisfied. These natural wants 
again harrow up the remembrance of their loss ; and it is now 
found that the family is left without any means of support. 
Surrounding neighbours are touched with their awful state, 
and utter their thoughts and wishes in accents of grief. 
They pity the disconsolate mother, and ask, " What will be- 
come of your fatherless children ? How will they be sup- 
ported and trained up for useful life ?" 

But we must divide these partners in sorrow, and confine 
ourselves to the case of the most distressing ; the one first 
named in the communion of sorrow, the fatherless ! the 
: greatest sufferers ! The widow's breach may be repaired ; 
though the crown fell from her head, it may be replaced, and 
she regain what she had lost ; but the fatherless ! an irrep- 
arable loss ! Father — a name which was once sweeter to 
the child than the siren's song — is blotted out of his vocab- 
ulary, and can be named no more ! O Death ! thou hast 
done thy worst ; thou hast made them poor indeed ! 

Behold,, then, these orphans ! these inpoverished ones ; 
poor innocents ! poor through involuntary consent, not 
through their own crime ! victims ! not agents ! In the case 
of the adult poor, many may be the alleviations of their suf- 
ferings ; mature age is fruitful in invention and importunate 
in its demands for relief; but the orphan has none to help 

M 



90 PURE RELIGION* 

him ! the glory of his head is fallen, and the child is thrown* 
into the shade, unnoticed and unknown ! 

Behold these orphans ! their distresses how complicated ! 
Here you may find all the variations of helpless orphancy I 
Some bereaved of a father's smile, some of a mother's love ! 
and some deprived of both ! they will never more enjoy a 
parent's warm embrace ; these are bereaved indeed ! I 
can, with the pencil of my mind, draw the scene of a pious 
couple struggling against the tide of poverty, night and day 
tugging at the oar ; but they have little ones to whom they 
look for future joy which alleviates their present suffering. 
I can remove this scene, and substitute another, in which I 
behold the head of a family removed by an awful and in- 
scrutable Providence. He has left behind him a wife ; he 
has also left a daughter, now a little orphan ! The mother 
finds mercy in the dispensation ; her grief, otherwise incon- 
solable, is dried up ; the innocent chides the mother's tears f 
while her throbbing heart conceals her own, and pours the 
balm into that part particularly affected. The mother lives 
— lives in her child ; the child lives, but it is only for her 
mother ! But I again take up my pencil, and reverse the 
scene : the mother is removed and the father is spared I Of 
all objects under heaven, a motherless daughter, in the morn- 
ing of life, is the most pitiable ! Pining anguish enters her 
little soul ! The father, seldom at home, is diverted in some 
degree from his grief while pursuing his daily duty, and the 
strength of mature reason has fortified his mind : meantime 
the infant mind wastes itself away ! It walks the seat of all 
its past comforts— stares with seeming wildness on the with- 
ered scene. A thousand little arrangements made by the 
mother's hand combine to keep the wound still fresh, while 
she gazes on them with mournful pleasure : her mother's im- 
age is ever present before her, for her business was domes- 
tic, and she sees her in the armed chair, and rises and treads 
the domestic rounds : the sigh heaves, the tear gushes out, 
the streams flow, and mother ! mother ! involuntarily escapes 
her lips, for it is uppermost in her heart ! The father seldom 
views the scene ; she carefully conceals her grief, attends him 
in her mother's stead, reads his wishes in his eye, antici- 



PURE RELIGION. 91 

pates his wants ; but, though steadfastly she reads his looks, 
she cannot trace the soft lineaments of a mother's face or 
find a mother's smile ! But the father is removed, and now 
weigh the affliction ! Surrounded by a gloom which will 
not suffer hope to shed a ray, she is but one remove from 
the shadow of death ! Death had eclipsed in eternal night 
her only joy ere the shade of the intervening monster had 
been dispelled from her abode. Saw you such a scene, and 
would no messenger of peace step in to this dreary haunt, 
and at least ameliorate, if they cannot restore, by quieting 
the distress on account of future support ? Would none be 
found to whisper to the throbbing heart, " Peace, be still!" 
This tale is not fiction : I have shown you the picture ; there 
are the living images ! * * * * 

#»«. JZ. *Ji </, *w. 

W -7E? -^ ~7^ "7^ 

III. The claims they have on us, and our duty with regard 
to them. 

1. As Christians. If religion be that which is to induce 
a conformity to its Author, who, though rich in all the glo- 
ries of the upper skies, yet for our sakes became poor, and 
ever went about doing good, can it possess that heart in 
which no bowels of mercies are excited at the orphan's art- 
less tale, but whose soul ever presents the insensibility and 
frigid temperature of the dead, though cased in a living 
coffin ? 

If religion be in the heart, let its fruit appear ; the Lord 
puts you to the test. Though he no longer keeps his court 
upon earth, but has removed it to the heavenly city, yet he 
sends down a message by his ministers ; and this is the mes- 
sage which we declare unto you, that pure religion is evi- 
denced by this display : will you then parley with the am- 
bassador and slight the embassy of the high court of 
Heaven ? 

St. John, enlarging on this message, asks, " How dwells 
the love of God in such a man ?" with what face can he call 
himself a Christian ! Who is the man that has just risen 
from his knees while he has been saying, " Thou hast dealt 
bountifully with thy servant," and yet contracts immediately 
the spirit of avarice, and lets go the Divine feeling ? I speak 



92 PURE RELIGION. 

to you as unto Christians ; no fruit in the life is a proof that 
there is no religion in the heart, and all professions of this 
kind only prove the man to be a religious hyprocrite. Good 
works are not meritorious, for all merit must centre in God ; 
but yet they are rewardable when flowing from evangelical 
principle. They justify our faith, and shall meet a full re- 
ward ; while others who produced them not will share an- 
other fate. "Conceive a thousand shivering beings on the 
cold flood of death ; driven by its strong tide, they soon 
reach the opposite shore ; they are driven away in their 
wickedness. I follow them with my mind's eye to a cavern 
hideous on all sides, roused as one great furnace flamed ; 
and through volumes of sulphur and smoke I am just enabled 
to read in characters of blood, ' Reserved in everlasting 
chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day ;' my 
soul sickens at the sight, and I turn from the scene ; I an- 
ticipate what that judgment will be : "I was an hungered, 
and ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no 
drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, 
and ye clothed me not ; sick and in prison, and ye visited 
me not : for inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of 
these ye did it not to me ;" therefore, " Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels." 

I speak to you as unto Christians, " Be ye followers of 
God as dear children." Behold the peculiar regard which 
he has -ever taken for the fatherless. It was among the laws 
delivered by God to Moses that the gleanings of the field, 
the wheat, the grape, and the olive, should all be left to the 
orphan and the widow ; nay, the Jew was even obliged to 
distribute part of his tithe to these forlorn ones, and it is ex- 
pressly said that they are not to make merry or rejoice with- 
out the fatherless. It is observable, also, that in the condi- 
tions which God made by the prophets in his covenants with 
the Jews, almost the first was, " If ye shall judge the father- 
less." On the other hand, whenever their crimes were mul- 
tiplied and he recapitulates the catalogue, among them we 
find this charge repeatedly made : " Ye judge not the father- 
less." That men might ever be kept in mind of this duty, 



PURE RELIGION. 93 

God has applied to himself the epithet of Everlasting Fa- 
ther ; and Christ annexes the same to our dispensation when 
we daily pray " Our Father who art in heaven." 

Shall, then, the peculiar object of the regard of Heaven 
not be the object upon which we shall look with more than 
common feelings ? shall not our awe be inspired while look- 
ing at these children of Deity ? 

But learn a lesson from these children of Providence. 
" Divine Providence is always deserving our attention. Prov- 
idence is God in motion ; Providence is God teaching by 
facts ; Providence is God fulfilling, explaining, and enfor- 
cing his own words ; Providence is God rendering natural 
events subservient to spiritual purposes ; rousing our atten- 
tion when we are careless, reminding us of our obligations 
when we are ungrateful, recalling us to our duty ; Provi- 
dence will be heard, and whoso is wise will observe these 
things." Read you not in these orphans the presage of what 
may be the case with regard to those who now call you fa- 
ther ? who now call you mother ? "Yes, O man ! O wom- 
an ! you must separate ! It is useless to keep back the 
mortifying truth ; it was the condition upon which your 
union was formed. O man, it was a mortal finger upon 
which you placed the ring, vain emblem of perpetuity ! 
O woman, it was a dying hand that imposed it ! After so 
many mutual and growing attachments, you must separate" 
and leave your little ones to be then called orphans : one 
must be taken and the other left, fondly to deck your grave 
or bedew the spot with nature's tears. Trust not the love 
of friendship with your helpless charge ! Many have been 
the false friends which these orphans found ; many were 
their professions ; " but how small the number of sterling ones 
in the day of trial ! Some of those who are now fawning 
on you would not, if a change of circumstances occurred, 
even know you or yours ; they leave the garden in winter ; 
there is nothing to gather. The flower which you placed 
in their bosom, as soon as it has exhaled its perfume, they 
throw withered into the dust. Of what use is the scaffolding 
when the building is finished ? It is laid out of sight : ' My 
brethren have dealt deceitfully.' * * * Trust not then in 



94 PURE RELIGION. 

riches; they may perish before your child should enjoy 
them; the moth may eat these." Lay up treasure for them 
more durable this night, and make God your friend while 
you act up to his golden rule. 

2. As men ! I appeal to humanity. Behold these or- 
phans ! and, if you can, steel your heart against them and 
bind it with fetters of brass ! But no ; you could not do it ! 
you could not but be affected with their cries: " Cast upon 
the world, we have no father's care, no mother's love !" A 
rhetoric is heard in such cries powerful to soften the hearts 
of the obdurate and to persuade the opulent to contribute to 
their relief; and that man would cease to be human who 
could not be moved by them : their case is sufficient to melt 
the adamantine heart to tenderness, and to act as a power- 
ful attraction to draw relief from the coffers of those to whom 
God has given ability to bestow. Surely, as men, you could 
not leave them alone to mourn their suffering lot and re- 
hearse their tale of wo ! to speak to the passing wind and 
sigh to the unheeding gale ! 

But it is often found that professing Christians are pre- 
vented from the diffusion of universal charity by that worst 
of monsters, sectarian bigotry. (See Styles^) But I speak 
to you as unto men ; we may differ about nonessential 
points of doctrine, and it is no great wonder ; we know lit- 
tle of God or the ways of God, and no wonder that we 
should entertain diversified opinions on subjects connected 
with such a Being. But we do know what we ourselves are ; 
and as we all expect to meet in heaven, can we not agree 
to meet somewhere on earth ? Shall no spot be found as a 
common possession on which we can take our stand ? Yes I 
there is at least one : let us then rally around suffering hu- 
manity ; here we can all meet. Look at these orphans ; let 
not these be the victims of party feeling ; forget that we are 
separatists, and feel that we are men I Should the demon 
of party feeling attempt to cross the boundaries of this line f 
he should at once be hewn in sunder ! 

Ye poorest of the poor ! Little was it thought by your 
fond parents that you would ever be exposed to the cra- 
vings of public charity ; often did the fond mother give lati- 



PURE RELIGION, 95 

lude to the warmth of her imagination, and with that pro- 
lific pencil delineate a thousand pleasant and delightful 
scenes with which she hoped her future life would be diver- 
sified ; but the rainbow vanished, and the blackness of dark- 
ness overspread the arch of heaven ! 

Pardon me, my brethren, if I detain you so long : I dare 
not stop ; I am afraid to cease ; the interests of this charity 
lie near my heart, and I shall never forgive myself if I omit 
aught which could, further its interests ! A year's support 
is now depending, and many are knocking at the doors of 
this institution for admittance, and shall we shut them out ? 

Behold these orphans ! were I advocating from this place 
the cause of a Magdalene asylum, and expatiating on the 
horrors of the state from which its inmates had been res- 
cued ; and had I the flattering eloquence of Tertullus, or 
the powerful appeal of a Paul calling on you to preserve 
the streams of living water in this Bethesda — this porch of 
mercy! — methinks you would listen with feelings of peculiar 
sympathy ; nay, you would think me tedious until the mo- 
ment arrived when you would have the opportunity of con- 
tributing : and what a contribution would you not bestow 
to relieve this case of mercy ! 

And do I address an audience whose compassion «a*n only 
be excited by the view of wretchedness and crime ? Is it 
because the lovely innocents for whom I plead have not yet 
mingled with the impure throng that you will not contribute 
as liberally to their Reservation as to their rescue ? Is it be- 
cause their breath is not yet tainted with the odours of im- 
purity that you will refuse the prayer of their lips entreating 
you to preserve them in their youth ? and is it because I do 
not bring before you a victim fresh and bleeding on the char- 
ger of crime that I cannot excite your commiseration ? Is 
it because no reeking blood sprinkles my petition that it is 
thrown aside as unworthy of your regard ? Where, then, is 
the milk of human kindness ! Where is the mind that can 
take no delight in the buddings of virtue, and can only be 
induced to prop up the faded flower ! 

But I recollect myself. Will not the fragrance of in- 
nocence supplicating for relief be sufficient with a Dublin 



96 PURE RELIGION. 

audience ? Yes ! I know whom I am addressing ; and I 
have confidence in you in all things. 

Finally, then, behold these orphans ! these tender plants 
doomed to spring up beneath your shade ; God has blessed 
you with the means, and shall the dew lie all night on your 
branch, and will you not shake it off to relieve the violet be- 
neath ! See these tender plants, not more abhorrent to the 
touch of crime than the sensitive plant to the touch of man : 
they shrink from its very approach !' Clothed this night with 
their own pure vestment, I am the more happy in exhibiting 
it the longer : I fancy myself on their behalf in the charac- 
ter of a cherub from on high, pleading the cause of those 
whose angels do continually behold the face of their heav- 
enly Father. If I have appeared clamorous, it was the voice 
of these tongues crying " mercy, mercy ! preserve our bod- 
ies and save our souls !" 

But I will check myself ; I transfer them to you. Oh I 
that I could cling them round your garments and fasten them 
there for a few moments ; how would they clasp their bene- 
factors' knees, and with a heavenly smile implore blessings 
on your heads ! I know there is a feeling excited ; I have 
caught the fervour from you ; I did not inspire it ; the pul- 
pit has caught the electric fluid ; I know I have your hearts ; 
I see, I feel you are with me ! I was afraid I — pardon me 
for suspecting you— that the interference of another char- 
ity of a similar nature at this very hour would damp the fer- 
vours of the orphans' friend ; but now all fear has vanished. 
It shall never be said that Dublin could not receive two ap- 
peals to public benevolence at the same moment of time 
without impoverishing each other's supplies. No ! I have 
confidence in you in all things ; and much as I regret the 
unpleasant conjunction of a neighbouring congregation of 
respectable citizens on this subject, yet I entertain no fear 
with regard to you, but am satisfied you will prove that my 
confidence was not misplaced. 

Follow, then, the impulse of your minds ; suffer not your 
design to be smothered in the birth ; give as you feel pur- 
posed, and believe me, the sentiment with which I concluded 
my appeal to you as Christians applies to you equally as to 



CHRISTIAN COURTEST. 97 

me : "Do unto these as you would wish they should do unto 
you." 

I again repeat it, I have your hearts ! But shall I there- 
fore abuse your trust ? No ! Father of the fatherless, I 
transfer them to thyself; the hearts of all this congregation 
are in thy hands ; let thy Spirit perform the essential part 
of this pleading, and incline this people to join hands with 
thee in making these orphans live ! Thou hast promised^ 
and we believe thy word : " The Lord will provide I" 



SERMON XIII. 

CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 

1 Peter, iii., 8. — Be courteous. 

The apostles are not only careful to lay the foundation, 
out to build up. # # # # # 

Hence the difference between the commencement and the 
close of their epistles. How comprehensive this whole verse, 
" Cherish fervent charity," and discover it in acts of pity or 
courtesy, according to circumstances. 

And what is pity ? The sympathizing aspect love wears 
towards the needy and miserable. Love exerting herself 
in kind and liberal services ; love pouring her oil and wine 
into the wounds of some poor sufferer whom Providence has 
thrown in her way ; love giving utterance to her feelings in 
tears of compassion, in words of consolation, or in prayers 
and intercessions. It is love weeping with them that weep. 

And what is courtesy but another form of love ? It is the 
varied aspect which she wears when, having quitted the 
house of mourning in order to attend to the claims of social 
intercourse, or to transact with mankind the ordinary con- 
cerns of life, she wipes away her tears, and endeavours to 
promote the comfort and conciliate the affections of all 
around her by a cheerful, self-denying regard to their feel- 
ings and accommodations. 

In short, to be pitiful or to be courteous is only fulfilling 

9 N 



98 CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 

the gentle guidance of the same internal principle under dif- 
ferent external circumstances ; and, indeed, there is not any 
Christian duty which we are required to perform, or any 
Christian feeling which we are exhorted to cherish towards 
one another, which, if examined and analyzed, but will be 
found to have love for its basis, since all the law is fulfilled 
in one word, even in this, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour 
as thyself." 

With respect to courtesy, we cannot have failed to remark 
that there is much profession and much appearance of it 
among those who make no pretensions to Godliness ; but the 
thing which passes current by this name in the dominions of 
the god of this world is a base counterfeit of the true shekel 
of the sanctuary, a tinselled imitation of sterling gold, a worth- 
less semblance of a valuable reality. Courtesy is, strictly 
speaking, a Christian grace. It is a plant of heavenly ori- 
gin : this present evil world, like the ground which the Lord 
hath cursed, is utterly incapable of yielding anything so ex- 
cellent and lovely. Courtesy cannot grow in selfish nature's 
soil. It is never found but in the garden of God. It is a 
fruit of the Spirit, and not a work of the flesh. It is the off- 
spring of charity ; and since it derives its being from Divine 
grace ; since it is made the subject of a Divine command ; 
since it is especially calculated to smooth those little asperi- 
ties which sometimes hinder even " the living stones of the 
temple" from being so perfectly joined and so fitly framed 
together as they should be ; since it powerfully tends like- 
wise to remove the prejudices and to allay the enmity so 
generally entertained by the world towards the church ; 
above all, since, in combination with other causes, it may 
contribute to win souls to God, we surely ought not to deem 
it unsuitable to the purposes of the ministry to make it, as 
on the present occasion, the subject of our particular and at- 
tentive consideration. We shall then proceed to consider 

The nature and excellence of Christian courtesy. 

I shall take care, as I proceed, to distinguish it from that 
pitiful appearance of the grace which is so commonly ex- 
hibited on the stage of this imposing world. Such a distinc- 
tion is the more needful because, while some professed dis- 



CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 99 

ciples of Christ seem to have substituted in the place of gen- 
uine courtesy a conformity to the manners and habits of 
ungodly men, which very ill consists with that simplicity of 
character which should distinguish the remnant of true Is- 
raelites, there are others who, through an honest disgust with 
the impertinent fopperies of the world, and an ill-directed fear 
of becoming infected with the same spirit of guile and hy- 
pocrisies, have even run so far into the opposite extreme of 
churlishness as to be culpably negligent of the proper forms 
of civilized society. 

By courtesy we are to understand (as intimated above) 
" a considerate regard to the feelings and accommodations 
of others, resulting from a principle of Divine love, and dis- 
covering itself by a corresponding behaviour in all the vari- 
ous circumstances of our ordinary intercourse with man- 
kind." 

Among the several qualities essential to Christian courte- 
sy, I shall mention, 

I. Simplicity and Godly sincerity. 

The courtesy of the world is an imposing form, a delusive 
shadow, an artificial mode or fashion which persons acquire 
under the discipline of their dancing-master. It is the art of 
adjusting the features of the face and of managing the ges- 
tures of the body, independently of any corresponding af- 
fection of the heart ; a grimace learned with some degree 
of difficulty, and for the most part awkwardly performed. 
It is a hollow, treacherous, unsound appearance ; " a bruised 
reed, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and 
pierce it." Indeed, so palpable is the imposture that none 
but children and other credulous and unsuspecting persons, 
who, to use a familiar phrase, have seen nothing of the world, 
are at all deceived by it. Mankind in general perfectly well 
understand that nothing is really meant by the punctilious 
interchange of their civilities ; and yet, strange as it may 
seem, almost every one will at times at least flatter himself 
that he plays his part so well, as effectually to blind the eyes 
of his neighbour, though he has too much penetration to be 
imposed upon himself. In this respect, however, notwith- 
standing all the self-complacency and vanity of the human 



100 CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 

heart, a man could scarcely fail to be sooner or later con- 
vinced of his mistake, if it were not that the affectation of 
being duped by his masked performances constitutes one of 
the principal ingredients in the politeness of his acquaint- 
ances. 

But the courtesy of a Christian is not a mere form. It is 
not the phantasm of a feeling which has no real existence. 
It is the outward expression of an inward disposition, the 
conduct which a benevolent mind will on all occasions in- 
stinctively prescribe. It is the natural and unconstrained 
operation of unfeigned love. Let us but love our neighbour 
as ourselves, and it will be morally impossible to violate the 
laws of courtesy ; for love worketh no ill to his neighbour. 
It will teach us cautiously to avoid whatever might unne- 
cessarily wound his feelings ; it will dispose us assiduously 
to study his inclination, ease, and convenience ; it will make 
us anxious to interpret his very looks, that we may even an- 
ticipate his requests ; it will enable us cheerfully to make a 
sacrifice of our own gratifications with a view to his. Ail 
this is perfectly easy ; it is even delightful where love exists 
without dissimulation ; but let this heavenly principle be 
wanting, take away from the form of courtesy the power , and 
it becomes an arduous and irksome task, a yoke grievous to 
be borne. 

2. Another characteristic of Christian courtesy is 
Disinterestedness. The courtesy of the world is selfish- 
ness disguised. You may be civil to some particular indi- 
viduals who have it in their power to promote your interest, 
pleasure, pride, or ambition ; nay, you may conduct towards 
men in general with an air of courtesy, while actuated by no 
higher motives than such as are the natural produce of a 
"heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. " 
You may be aware, perhaps, that " by this craft," &c. * 
* # # or experience may have proved that civility is 
necessary to gain their regard to your comfort and accom- 
modation ; or possibly you may be courting popularity for 
its own sake ; or you wish to be reputed amiable and well 
bred ; or you are solicitous to be admired as having the man- 
ners of a gentleman ; in short, your politeness is a kind of 



CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 101 

traffic, in which you are engaged upon a mercenary calcula- 
tion that it will produce for you a certain income, whereon 
" the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride 
of life" may genteelly subsist. In such a case, your cour- 
tesy has not the most distant connexion with the love of 
your neighbour. It originates entirely in the love of this 
world, and, consequently, in every instance in which it is dis- 
appointed of its selfish purposes, it is succeeded by spleen 
and rudeness. 

Christian courtesy seeketh not her own. She studies the 
feelings and bends to the accommodation of others, hoping 
for nothing again ; and if, on some occasions, requited with 
coarse and churlish incivility, instead of being overcome of 
evil she overcometh evil with good ; for she is the offspring 
of that charity which is not easily provoked, but which suf- 
fereth long, is kind, and envieth not. The apostle appears 
to have had this quality of genuine courtesy particularly in 
view when writing the exhortation of the text, " Be courte- 
ous ;" and hence adds, " Not rendering evil for evil, or rail- 
ing for railing ; but contrariwise blessing ; knowing that ye 
are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For 
he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his 
tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile : let 
him eschew evil, and do good ; let him seek peace, and en- 
sue it." 

3. Uniformity. The courtesy of the carnal mind is a sick- 
ly, humorsome, capricious thing, altogether incapable of 
persevering exertion. The men of the world constrain us to 
consider their politeness as something very analogous to the 
operation of an intermittent fever. For a season they will 
carry matters to a height manifestly unnatural ; treat us with 
an assiduity of attention, and profess towards us a warmth of 
attachment which is painfully excessive. But the paroxysm 
is seldom long. Nature is soon exhausted by these extrav- 
agant exertions, and sinks into drowsy silence and listless 
inactivity. All must have observed this. If the visit of an 
acquaintance be protracted but a little beyond the expected 
period of its duration, how is the spirit of artificial civility 
seen to flag. Let the ordinary forms of salutation have been 



102 CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 

exchanged ; let the course of customary inquiries have been 
mutually proposed and answered ; let the trivial occurrences 
of the day, the state of the roads, the changes of the weath- 
er, have been remarked, and the miserable fund of conver- 
sation begins to fail, the interview grows insipid, the scene 
becomes entirely divested of every appearance of interest, 
and the host, no longer able to disguise the real feelings of 
his heart beneath the constrained civility of his manners, is 
impatient to be relieved from his embarrassment by the 
speedy departure of his guest. 

Nor can you calculate on the treatment you may meet. 
At one time, most particularly obliging ; at another, without 
any assignable cause, perversely unaccommodating. * * * 
The courtesy of this world never continueth at one stay. 

But its worthless character is yet more evidently betrayed 
by a partial and ungenerous respect of persons. This coun- 
terfeit virtue allows to smile to a man on the right, and to 
wound the feelings of a less favoured companion on the 
left* * * # ' * * * 

A gracious courtesy is free from these glaring contradic- 
tions. It is without partiality as well as hypocrisy : the in- 
fluence of a sincerely benevolent affection extending to every 
child of man ; an emanation of the Divine nature, a measure 
of the same mind which was in Christ Jesus. No human 
being can be excluded from the good will, &c. You may 
confidently reckon on being courteously treated by men of 
consistent piety, under all circumstances ; for their conduct 
is not the result of humour, but principle. It is the work of 
the law written in their hearts : " Whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 

4. It is invariably associated with humility. In honour 
preferring one another. The men of the world do this in ap- 
pearance : they come abroad clothed with humility, but a 
spiritual eye soon sees, in all their affected ease, it is not the 
habit which properly belongs to them ; it is the costume of a 
better country than that which claims them for its own; a 
foreign dress, which, like the traveller in his journey, they 
find it convenient to assume ; a mere cloak worn in public 
to cover the deformity of their natural disposition. But the 



CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 103 

veil is often of too thin a texture to answer the purpose, and 
hence, should any fail to pay them that deference and re- 
spect which, under this voluntary humility, they yet tacitly 
demand, the complacency of their looks and urbanity of 
their demeanour are gone — the mask is thrown off. 

The courtesy of those who follow Jesus is the unaffected 
expression of a poor and contrite spirit, He who has learned 
of Christ goes and sits down in the lowest place, not to in- 
dulge in reflections upon others, or obtain the admiration of 
man, but because he really feels it is the place which prop- 
erly belongs to him. He esteems others better than himself, 
and therefore, without artificial restraint, he can submit to 
become the servant of all in everything consistent with a 
conscience " void of offence towards God and towards men f 9 
for such will never attempt to ingratiate himself by abject 
flattery or worldly compliances. His courtesy is independ- 
ent of every mean and temporizing expedient ; he grovels 
not in the mire of fleshly wisdom — not in the insinuating and 
cringing servility of a man-pleaser ; it is the honourable 
subjection of a servant of Christ ; it flows from a gracious 
nobility of soul, directly opposed to that despicable policy 
which involves a sacrifice of principle to the humour and 
will of others.. This courtesy shrinks from no degradation 
but that of vice ; is ambitious of no dignity but that of being 
conformed to the image of his [God's] Son. While it de- 
spises the scorns of an evil and adulterous generation, and 
would "resist unto blood, striving against sin," yet it manifests 
an obliging readiness of mind to perform the meanest ser- 
vices for the chief of sinners, if so it can administer to their 
comfort in body or soul. 

Our Lord's conduct in the house of Simon exhibits a fine 
example of real courtesy. On the one hand, see him meekly 
submitting to occupy a place at the table of a man who, by 
the omission of every customary form of hospitality, had 
treated him with marked incivility and neglect. On the 
other hand, we behold him manifesting the most tender re- 
gard towards a woman that was a sinner, though well aware 
he was submitting to the utmost degradation and contempt 
in the eyes of his self-righteous host. 



104 CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 

The courtesy acquired in the school of Christ " vaunteth 
not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; 
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth 
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
things ;" it makes no invidious distinctions between "aman 
with a gold ring in goodly apparel and a poor man in vile 
raiment.' ' It cannot say " to him that wears the gold ring, sit 
thou here in a good place ; and to the poor, stand thou there 
or sit here under my footstooL It minds not high things, but 
condescends to men of low estate." 

5. To this may be added vigilence. It watches for op- 
portunities of exertion, yet is not troublesome — not officious. 
It originates in a certain kindness of heart which may be 
called the wakefulness of love. 

We sometimes see in persons of undoubted piety an ab- 
sence of mind ; they seem absorbed in contemplation ; they 
hear or observe not what is done by others. But this is a 
violation of Christian courtesy, an impropriety which obtain- 
ed no place in the conduct of Him who has left us an exam- 
ple that we should follow his steps. It is a holy exercise 
misplaced, a kind of selfish spirituality, a sacrifice of public 
duty at the shrine of private indulgence — the devotion of the 
closet or the mount performed amid the neglected claims of 
the multitude. 

Be then " followers of God as dear children," and keep 
looking unto Jesus till "you are changed into the same image 
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

It appears from the foregoing that 

1. Courtesy is a duty of more than human obligation. A 
breach of good manners is therefore not merely a departure 
from an arbitrary rule imposed by the fashion of the world, 
but a breach of charity. It is a violation of the law of love 
— a transgression of the commandment of God. It is sin ; 
and therefore it becomes us, if we have allowed ourselves in 
the breach of courtesy, to acknowledge the offence and ask 
forgiveness of God and man. I am aware that it is not un- 
frequent, nay, absurdly common, for the children of this 
world to beg pardon, &c, on all those trivial occasions 



CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 105 

which Involve no real humility of spirit ; but there the mat- 
ter rests. Not so with a tender conscience : it heals not its 
wounds so slightly : the children of God take shame to them- 
selves for their asperities and negligences ; they will trace 
them to a want of more sincere, humble, and active affection 
for their neighbour ; they will contrast them with the exam- 
ple of their Redeemer ; and while they pray to their Father 
for forgiveness, they will ask for all the mind which was in 
Christ Jesus, " that they may walk worthy of the Lord, unto 
all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increas- 
ing in the knowledge of God." 

2, Courtesy to man is perfectly consistent with faithful- 
ness to God. A good soldier of Jesus Christ must bear his 
testimony against sin ; but our subject prescribes the manner 
only of so doing. 

3. Man cannot practise Christian courtesy till he has re- 
nounced the world ; for the world is not the school in which 
true politeness can be acquired. To be kind to the evil and 
to the unthankful is a lesson of heavenly wisdom. It, and it 
alone, can " behold the" persecuting " city and weep over 
it." In the world you may learn to love them that love you ; 
but would you acquire the meekness of wisdom, which, un- 
like the politeness of the world, possesses the intrinsic prop- 
erty of the charity which never faileth, which enables us to 
be courteous not only to the good and gentle, but also to the 
froward, you must enter the school of Christ : " Learn of 
me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest 
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is 
light." Then be no longer " conformed to this world, but 
transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may 
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
God." 

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there 
be any praise, think on these things." 

O 



106 WE ARE VERILY GUILTY 



SERMON XIV. 

WE ARE VERILY GUILTY CONCERNING OUR BROTHER, 

A MISSIONARY DISCOURSE. 

Genesis, xlii. r 21. — We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw 
the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear ; therefore is 
this distress come upon us. 

This subject affords a fine opportunity to discourse on the 
nature and power of conscience — the candle of the Lord. — 
It is not necessary to inquire whether it be ever altogether 
silenced. * * * Sleep and death, however, are two things. 
See the frozen snake — bring it to the fire ! " There is no 
peace to the wicked ;" they are always subject to bondage 
through fear of death. 

Johnson said, infidels are of two classes, fools and wretch- 
es ; if they refuse to think, it is madness ; if they do think, 
it is misery ! "Why did Felix tremble ? Why were " the 
joints of Belshazzar's loins loosed," and why " smote his 
knees one against the other ?" Why not interpret the hand- 
writing favourably — as the record of his greatness ? # # # 
Herod, though a Sadducee, thought that John the Baptist 
was risen again ; his conscience was too much for his creed. 
— The light will break in through some chink or other. M. 
de Staei said " it was in the power of adversity to make ev- 
ery man superstitious in spite of himself*" rather say, revive 
the conviction of a Deity. 

See the text — comment on it. — What similarity of cir- 
cumstances was there in the situation of these men that 
brought Joseph to mind ? — famine ! — strange land ! — gov- 
ernor treated them roughly ! — put three days in hold ! — 
they feel they need pity ! — Conscience says, " You cannot 
look for it, for you showed none." 

" Blessed are the merciful." — We only knew the fact 
before, but now we hear of the entreaties which Joseph 



CONCERNING OUR BROTHER. 107 

made — his tears !— his cry, O Judah, O Ruben, waxed faint- 
er and fainter, till it died on the ear — and they sat down to 
eat and drink. — Wretches I 

You, my friends, are now indulging vengeance on them : 
in their situation — but expend it not all on them ! Some 
nearer you — I mean not your neighbours, but you. Have 
you never enjoyed yourselves when the cry of distress has 
been heard ? * * Yet I mean something higher than this ! 
— While you sit down to eat and drink in spiritual privi- 
leges, what millions are in more pitiable circumstances ? 
" We are verily guilty concerning our brother ;" and I 
hope to bring this matter home and convict every one of 
you ! 

(Thank God, " The Jews have no dealings with the Sa- 
maritans," is not a text often preached on in modern times. 
Bunyan said, " Master Prejudice fell down and broke his 
leg ;" I would, said he, that he had broken his neck too. 
* * # Enlarge on the Wesleyan Missions.) 

Mr. Ward said, " I have attended many missionary meet- 
ings in England, yet in all you indulge too much in congrat- 
ulation ; if you had seen the wide-spread fields of heathen- 
ism as I have seen, &c. * * # nothing comparatively is 
done ; not enough to wipe off the reproach for long neg- 
lect." " We are verily guilty concerning our brother." 
We proceed, then, to notice, 

I. The sources from whence these convictions are to be 
derived. 

II. What influence this ought to have on us. 

I. The sources from whence these convictions are to be 
derived. 

We cannot condemn a criminal till we convict him. I 
arraign this whole audience ! I charge them with guilt. 
Consider, then, 

1. The relation of the sufferers * * * our brethren ! This 
was the sting in the text — our brother : not a stranger, though 
then our conduct was merciless ! — Nabal. — I hope there are 



108 WE ARE VERILY GUILTY 

none of his descendants here this morning ; you cannot use 
his words in reference to any of the human race. God has 
made all of one blood ; all are your brethren. See the Hin- 
doo, African, Esquimaux : each says, " Am not I thy broth- 
er ?" I catechise thee, " Art not thou his brother by infirm- 
ities ?" * * * His follies and his crimes have stamped him 
man ! 

2. The wretchedness of their state. Joseph's state was 
nothing compared with those who address us. You say, 
however, " Joseph besought them; but the heathen do not 
beseech us ; they are satisfied with their condition." The 
more pitiable ! See the maniac : in his wild ravings he fan- 
cies himself a king : is he therefore to be less compassion- 
ated ? I have seen the infant play with the ensigns of its 
mother's death. " Precious babe!" said I, "ignorant of 
thy loss !" So here : their lack of knowledge prevents them 
from being sensible to their condition. 

But you say, " Joseph's brethren saw the anguish of his 
soul." True : and here I feel the disadvantage of my posi- 
tion. If you could but see what a missionary sees ! Could 
I but lead you, not to their sensualities— to name which 
would be a shame — -but to their cruelties ! Could I show 
you the devotee lying on sharp spikes, or casting himself 
under the ponderous car of Juggernaut ; could I fix your 
eyes on children leaving their aged parents to expire on the 
damp banks of their idol river, or parents casting their chil- 
dren to the crocodiles of the Ganges, or sons lighting the 
funeral pile of their mothers, you would not keep from me 
even a ring on your finger. 

Philosophers sneer when we talk of the dreadful state of 
the East ; and many Christians concede too much to them. 
I do not say God cannot save a heathen ; the influence of the 
fact of the Gospel extends farther than the Revelation. In ref- 
erence to infants, this is certain, and Scripture itself assures us 
that " In every nation he that feareth God and worketh 
righteousness is accepted with him." Yet, after all, without 
a preparedness there can be no heaven, and Ward said he 
had not found anything resembling real holiness among all 
the heathen with whom he had been conversant. Idolatry 



CONCERNING OUR BROTHER. 109 

is not merely a weakness, as some say ; it is a regular sys- 
tem of sensuality and crime. It originates in the vices men 
love, and hates the virtues which God approves. Do the 
Scriptures talk lightly of it ? It not only tolerates vices, but 
hallows them ; cruelties and crimes are sanctified. It is in- 
iquity personified ; yea, the devil deified and hell incarna- 
ted !. You inquire, " May there not be with God a secret 
method of saving the heathen ?" I answer, if secret, we 
know nothing about it, and have nothing to do with it. If 
revealed, where ? The Scriptures say, " There is no other 
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be 
saved, but the name of Jesus." The heathen feel their 
guilt ; yet they know nothing of the fountain opened in the 
house of David for sin and uncleanness. But we shall dis- 
cover still farther evidences of our guilt by considering, 

3. Our orders to succour them. This succour is not op- 
tional with us. It is commanded in every injunction to be- 
nevolence and beneficence ; and this must, of course, in- 
clude the highest kinds of them. " Freely ye have receiv- 
ed, freely give," is the Divine requisition. 

The goodness of the Master is often impugned because 
of the wickedness of those servants who neglect or violate 
the command. (The brute on the seventh day.) One is 
rich and the other poor. Does God love the rich more 1 
No ; but makes him his almoner : but if the rich hoard it up 5 
shall the Master be condemned ? Now our Saviour said, 
" Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." Had the command been acted on ever since it 
was given, the earth would now be full of the knowledge of 
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. But " if the Gospel 
be so valuable," say some, "why has it spread so little ?" 
I reply by another interrogatory, Has God no attribute but 
his power ? We know that God will be able to justify him- 
self, but we never shall be able to justify ourselves. " We 
are verily guilty concerning our brother." Another evi- 
dence of our guilt will appear when we consider, 

4. The possibility of affording them succour. " Withhold 
not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the 
power of thine hand to do iV Our duty to the heathen is 

10 



110 WE ARE VERILY GUILTY 

based on no impossibilities. Our inability is moral, yea, wil- 
ful. We make a difference between the means and the 
end ; the end is his, the means are ours. There is a dif- 
ference also between means and miracles. Miracles have 
ceased, because they are no longer necessary. Without 
them the Indian castes have been broken. Without them 
the Hottentot has been elevated and Christianized, though 
some said the swine would receive the Gospel as soon. 
Look, too, at the South Sea islands : long we endured 
sneers, but now behold language and laws, schools and 
churches, virtue and piety, rising on the ruins of barbarism. 
If miracles were necessary, we should not have been so guil- 
ty ; for we could not have furnished the gift of tongues. 
Yet we could teach them their native language. I repeat, 
then, that means are ours and results are God's. If you 
knew a village perishing by a disease, and you had an in- 
fallible remedy, and yet should withold it, would you not 
be " verily guilty concerning your brethren ?" If you see the 
unsuspecting traveller crossing a rotten bridge, and you warn 
him not, can you be innocent ? 

5. Consider the facilities we have in this cause of com- 
passion. "If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, 
wouldst thou not have done it?" how much more when he 
simply says, "Wash and be clean." Our duty is to com- 
mence missionary exertions, whatever might be the peril. 
# * # But have you gone forth at a peradventure if the 
heathen were salvable ! No; you knew God's word; you 
knew " God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life." You knew his intention was 
that y all should know him, from the least to the greatest." 
Have we then ever done anything magnificent enough to do 
justice to the declarations of his word ? No ! 

Providence has favoured us also. Governments have been 
favourable to civil liberty. Thus missionaries have not met 
with the sufferings we might have reckoned on. Not one 
out of the whole has been put to death ! 

The grace of God has been with us also. If no result had 



•CONCERNING OUR BROTHER. Hi 

taken place, still our duty would have been to go. But God 
has blessed. See the number of converts ; your missions, 
though once feeble, have become strong, which leads me to 
observe, 

6. That even the efforts we have made in this work fur- 
nish evidence of our guilt. What is our zeal ? what the 
number of missionary societies ! what think you of one 
preacher for a whole county ? But see : 

All missionary societies furnish six hundred,* and there 
are six hundred millions perishing. 

Are you now convicted ? Is there no heart here that says, 
" I ought to have gone out in this work." Does not another 
exclaim, " I have not preached often enough on the sub- 
ject ;" and is it not the language of a third, " I have prayed 
too little." And methinks I hear from a fourth, " I have 
given nothing as I ought ! so little :" and a fifth confesses, 
" I could have influenced others, though I could not do much 
myself." Ah! my brethren, "we are all guilty — verily 
guilty concerning our brother." 

II. "What influence should these convictions produce ? 

If sincere, they will produce four results : 

1. The depravity of human nature will be acknowledged. 
This is denied by many, but there is no need now to go to 
Newgate to prove it. If man were not alienated from the 
life of God, he could not be thus alienated from his brother. 
You are proof of this degeneracy — the royal law has been 
broken. 

2. Deep and Godly sorrow will be felt. As in the valley 
of Hadadrimmon, you will retire in secret and mourn apart. 
Ah ! brethren, we cannot mourn too deeply over this fatal 
negligence. 

3. It will lead us to apply to the mercy of God. " De- 
liver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my sal- 
vation ; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteous- 
ness." The encouragement is, " With him there is mercy 
and plenteous redemption :" "If we confess our sins, he is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 
all unrighteousness." 

* In the year 1821. 



112 WE ARE VERILY GUILTY CONCERNING OUR BROTHER. 

4. It will awaken zeal. A sense of Divine forgiveness 
will not make you forgive yourselves ; you will be up and 
doing. It will operate, not as an opiate, but as a cordiaL 
The inquiry will be, " What wouldst thou have me to do ?" 

But if this effect be not produced, I say, as Mordecai to 
Esther, " If thou altogether hold thy peace, deliverance shall 
arise from another quarter, but thou and thy father's house 
shall be consumed." So here— if you will not labour, the 
work will go on still, but you will be cursed I 

Saurin would finish every sermon with reference to death ? 
and Jesus said, " I must work the works of him that sent 
me, while it is day ; the night cometh, when no man can 
work." Life, then, is the only season in which you can 
serve your generation.. — "Wesley would be willing to come 
down again, be despised again, and persecuted again, for 
the opportunities you now possess of making known the 
Saviour ! 

This may be the last collection— a dying grant. 

What says your own welfare ? I am ashamed to call in 
selfishness, yet God himself meets our weakness. The ark 
with Obed— Edom. * * * Contrast this with the conduct 
of the Jews when they returned from Babylon and neglected 
to build the house of the Lord. The penury they dreaded 
came on like an armed man. Hear the reproving language 
of the prophet to these idle professors : " Ye have sown 
much, and bring in littler ye eat, but ye have not enoughs 
ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink ; ye clothe you, but 
there is none warm ; and he that earneth wages ? earneth 
wages to put it into a bag with holes. Ye looked for much ? 
and lo, it came to little ; and when ye brought it home, I did 
blow upon it. Why ? saith the Lord of hosts* Because of 
mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his 
own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from 
dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called 
for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and 
upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and 
upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men r 
and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands." 

Public-spirited men, though not the richest, are generally 



THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 113 

the most successful. At least, " When the eye sees them it 
blesses them, and when the ear hears them it gives witness 
to them." Yea, and "devout men carry them like Stephen 
to their burial, and make great lamentation over them." 

What says your own experience ? Have you lost by any- 
thing done for God ? (Anecdote.) 

It has been said there are three principles in religion : 
fear, hope, love, and love the strongest ! True ? and no love 
like that a sinner feels to a redeeming God ! 

What encouragement more than from past success ! even 
one sinner /**#** 

I am not sorry that these applications are so frequent — ■ 
these Godly vexations. Do you wish exemption from 
them ? Would you bring back the olden times before Meth- 
odism, when the Church was sleeping in the dark and the 
Dissenters sleeping in the light ? Are you now complaining 
that God is answering the prayer you have so often offered^ 
" Thy kingdom come ?" 

Determine what to give with reference to a 

Conscience near you ; 

Eternal judgment before you ; 

Grace of Him who, "though he was rich, yet for your sakes 
became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich," 



SERMON XV. 



THE NEEDFUL CAUTION* 



2 Corinthians, vi., 1. — We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also 
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 

Observe the apostolic description of the Christian min- 
istry. 

Its dignity, " ambassadors of Christ." — 2 Cor., v., 20. 
Micaiah standing before the two kings of Israel and Judah ? 
1 Kings, xxii. — They sweep stars and suns aside ! 

Another characteristic is designated in 1 Cor., iii. ? 9. 
" We are ' labourers' (workers) together with God" — not 

P 



114 THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 

" sewing pillows to all armholes, to hunt souls." — Ezek., 
xiii., 18. 

In the text they are designated as " fellow-workers," true 
yoke-fellows. Oh ! the sympathy they have, bearing each 
other's burdens ! weeping and rejoicing together ! 

" We then, as workers together with him, beseech you" 
also. We have besought others " from Jerusalem round 
about to Illyricum" (Rom., xv., 19) ; we now beseech you 

I. The exhortation explained. 
II. The exhortation enforced. i 

I. The exhortation explained. 

The subject is " the grace of God." 

This sometimes means the mere favour of God to us, or 
anything bestowed upon us as the result of that favour. In 
this place it must be determined by the context preceding : 
" And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to him- 
self by Jesus Christ, and hath committed unto us the minis- 
try of reconciliation." The great plan of reconciliation, 
then, is " the grace of God" in question. 

This is called "the grace of God" by way of eminence, 
because, 

1. The gift of Jesus Christ is the highest display of the 
goodness of God to man. " Herein is love, not that we 
loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the 
propitiation for our sins." — 1 John, iv,, 10. 

" Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." — 1 John, 
iii., 1. " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him 
up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all 
things ?" — Rom., viii., 32. " That at the name of Jesus ev- 
ery knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
and things under the earth. And that every tongue should 
confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father." 
—Phil., ii., 10, 11. 

2. Because it is that which procures for us all other bless- 
ings. " How shall he not with him freely give us all 
things ?'" " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, 



THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 115 

he will give it you:" pardon, peace, holiness, heaven,' 
" through him, this saving grace hath appeared unto all men" 
—Tit., ii., 11. 

Now this grace is to be u received '." 

1. The mind must have a clear perception of God's meth- 
od of justifying the ungodly — his method of saving sinners. 
Many call this head-knowledge ; what else would they 
have it ? Is not our religion to be " in all knowledge and 
spiritual understanding ?" If we knew more, we should love 
more. How few of us can give such " a reason of the hope 
that is in us" as to justify the ways of God to man. 

We live on frames and feelings produced by public means 
of grace, but have no " manna" laid up at home. 

2. The heart must receive the Saviour. " With the heart 
man believeth unto righteousness." Our affections must 
choose and submit to him, and our entire selves must be 
presented as a " living sacrifice." — Rom., xii., 1. Every 
other trust or dependance must be rejected : 

" I nothing have, I nothing am, 
But Jesus died for me." 

3. There must be a practical reception of this " grace of 
God" — an adorning of it in the conduct ; not talking, but 
working. Thus the judgment, the affections, the life, all re- 
ceive the grace of God. 

Now this grace must not be received u in vain." Many 
have so received it, and I appeal to many in this congrega- 
tion if they are not awful witnesses of the fact. 

1. The light within has become darkness; and " hew 
great is that darkness !" * * * * 

•fc -fa T7? ^ TW? "7^ 

2. The love they once had, where is it ? Would they 
were even lukewarm ! but alas ! they have waxed cold ! 
their hearts are a moral icehouse ; the cold damps of death 
have gathered round them ; their atmosphere chills you and 
drives back the heart's blood ! 

3. Their ways now have no tendency to glorify God. * 

# * # % % # 

Thus is the case, the grace of God has been received in 



116 THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 

II. The exhortation enforced. — By what arguments ? 

Our difficulty lies not in the paucity of reasons for enfor- 
cing the subject, but in the selection. We could urge it 
upon you by motives drawn from heaven and from hell ; 
from time and from eternity. By motives from the word of 
God, &c. — in a thousand forms. By motives drawn from 
our highest hopes and most alarming fears, &c, &c. But 
to enumerate a few particulars, we urge it, 1. From a con- 
sideration of the value of the benefit — God's greatest gift !**— 
the astonishment of heaven ! 

We value a thing occasionally by the amount it cost us. 
But ah ! we know not what was the value of this ; for though 
it was bestowed freely, it cost heaven all ! — the pearl of 
great price ! The treasury exhausted. (The painter who 
gave away his works because they were above price.) 

We prize a thing occasionally by considering what it pur- 
chased for us. Value the grace of God thus. It redeems 
from death and purchases heaven — a double benefit 

Oh ! for an angel's tongue to enlarge on its value ! Om- 
nipotence bounded ! — the mighty God circumscribed ! We 
" were not redeemed by corruptible things, as silver and 
gold, from our vain conversation, received by tradition from 
our fathers ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a 
Lamb without blemish and without spot." 

Behold, then, the value of the benefit ! — receive it not in 
vain ; " For how shall we escape if we neglect so great sal- 
vation ? " 

If this be received in vain, every other benefit is in vain. 
All the sermons you have heard— and how powerful ! — all 
the prayers — and how mighty! — all your afflictions, &c, 
— your convictions — and how painful ! — all the strivings of 
God's Spirit, &c. The ordinances of his house, the efforts 
of his ministers, all admonitions, threatenings, promises, all 
in vain. You have lost the full reward ! — in vain ! ! In 
vain pious parents, a religious education, early impressions, 
good resolutions, &c. In vain the prayers of the church, the 
sympathy of angels, &c. — all, all in vain ! " Let him 
alone." Oh ! terrible word ! Conscience, trouble him no 
more—- seared over ! Spirit of God, withdraw ; he shall 



THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 117 

grieve thee no longer. Ministers, alarm him no more — he 
is asleep — "Let him alone" 

3. Consider the punishment awaiting such a one. It is 
bad enough for heathens to perish without law ; " But of how 
much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be thought worthy 
who hath trodden under feet the only-begotten Son of God, 
and counted the blood wherewith he was sanctified an un- 
holy thing." Oh ! he shall be " beaten with many stripes." 
" O Capernaum ! it shall be more tolerable for the land of 
Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee." * * 

There are different degrees of misery in hell, as of happi- 
ness in heaven : the lowest place is the backslider's : the 
nethermost hell is reserved for him who received " the grace 
of God in vain !" Oh ! could I but mourn thy fall aright ! 
"How art thou fallen, Lucifer, son of the morning!" 
"How is the gold become dim and the fine gold changed !" 
Oh ! could I but sing a requiem to thy soul ! But the howl- 
ings of despair will prevent thy rest : as in heaven, " They 
rest not day nor night !" * * * Oh ! thou intruder into hell! 
prepared not for thee ! Thou wast born a king ! an heir of 
glory ! * * * * * * * 

4. Because this is the only day in which you can receive 
the grace of God. Be not deceived by the delusion of uni- 
versalism ! When time ends with thee, then eternity ; but 
time is the term for thy salvation. When faith ends, vision 
succeeds ; but faith is the way, and it has no operation on a 
flaming world or descending Judge. Again, the judgment 
is to be for deeds done in the body. " When, therefore, the 
Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, 
and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, say- 
ing, Lord, Lord, open unto us ; and he shall answer and say 
unto you, I know you not, whence you are." 

Oh ! then, to-day, after so long a time, harden not your 
hearts; "receive not the grace of God in vain!" for if thou 
do, thy punishment will not only be great, but sealed up on 
thee forever ! — Perpetuity of wo is wo ! 

Application. 

1. To ministers. 

" Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the 



118 THE NEEDFUL CAUTION. 

flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you over- 
seers ; to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased 
with his own blood." 

Oh ! apostate ministers ! Wandering stars to whom is 
reserved the " blackness of darkness forever." If the back- 
sliding professor has the nethermost hell, I know not what 
hell a fallen minister shall endure ! ! 

Oh ! the awful consideration that, " after having preached 
to others, I myself should be a castaway." O if we re- 
ceive the grace of God in vain, better never to have been 
born ! We have a depositum to keep, &c. 

2. To people. With you I have mainly to do. " I be- 
seech you, therefore, that ye receive not the grace of God 
in vain." I? nay, " We" all; I would cluster around me 
every minister you have ever heard, and with one voice, 
" We beseech you." But many of them have gone home ! 
Their voice was as a skilful instrument, but they can beseech 
you no longer. But could they, heaven would echo back, 
" We beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in 
vain." Nay, apostles, martyrs, would join in the solemn 
expostulation, and with united voice exclaim, " Receive not, 
oh! receive not the grace of God in vain." 

And now I warn you of your danger. What ! you cavil 
at it and think it vain ! "In danger ?" Yes, else you are 
not in a state of probation ; else the heart is not deceitful ; 
else " the devil goes not about like a roaring lion seeking 
whom he may devour!" "In danger?" Yes, or all the 
exhortations of the apostles are vain, nay, deceitful, false 
alarms ; for say they not that you may forget that you were 
ever " purged from your old sins ?" 

I appeal to yourselves ; all preconceived opinions apart, 
do you not feel your danger ? Is there no consciousness of 
it ? Have you never lost any part of the grace you have 
received ? — If so, why may you not lose the whole ? If ev- 
ery part is incorruptible seed, why has any part died away? 
" In danger ?" Yes, if any ever did fall, even one, from 
Adam to Christ, from Christ till now. — Have you not seen 
the beacon which Paul set up ? " Holding faith and a 
good conscience ; which some having put away concern* 



HIS DISCIPLES. lift 

ing faith, have made shipwreck : of whom is Hymeneus and 
Alexander." 

Many of you are near it — in shoal water. Oh ! pray for 
a spring-tide of grace, to get you off* the shoals — you have 
often scraped the bottom — often struck y &c.^ &c. 



SERMON XVI. 

christ'& legacy to his disciples.* 

John, xiv., 27. — Peace I leave with you. 

The dying words of a friend are much valued. We view 
the soul as on the wing, and eagerly catch its last accents* 
It is impossible to consider the situation of the apostles of 
our Lord and Saviour, at the time when these words were 
addressed to them, without feelings of tenderest sympathy. 
Their Master knew that his time was drawing near, when 
he should be parted from them, and seemed scarcely to know 
how to introduce the painful relation. He had put off the 
subject till the very evening before the event took place, and 
to within a few hours of the time when he knew he should 
be betrayed. He had taken his leave of the world, as we 
gee in chapter xii., from the 44th verse to end, in which he 
sums up the whole of that doctrine which he had been preach- 
ing during his three years' ministry. He asserts his own 
divinity : " He that seeth me seeth him that sent me ;"f and 
his atonement : "I came to save the world. "$ On these two 
hangs all the mystery of our salvation ; he also shows how 
these truths are to be operative in man, and produce in him 
the effect intended, even by faith ; for that, though God 
has done all that he could do on his part, yet it is left to us 
to receive or reject the salvation he has provided ; hence he 
says in the 46th verse, " Whosoever believeth on me shall not 
abide in darkness." He then enforces the necessity of re- 
ceiving him as the promised Messiah by the consideration 

* This was Mr. Summerfield's first sermon in Dublin, 
t Verse 45. % Verse 47. 



120 Christ's legacy to his disciples. 

of the judgment of the great day. " He that rejecteth me, 
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him ; the 
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the 
last day." But, on the other hand, he declares those who 
thus believe in him shall have life everlasting.^ 

The first direct intimation which the disciples seem to 
have had that the hour of his departure had come was after 
he had given that moving proof of his affection mentioned 
in chapter xiii., 21 : the evangelist says, " When Jesus had 
thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, 
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray 
me." After Judas had gone out, he again renewed the 
mournful subject. " Little children, yet a little while I am 
with you. Ye shall seek me ; and as I said unto the Jews, 
whither I go ye cannot come ; so now I say unto you." On 
Peter's professed zeal to go with him anywhere, Jesus gen- 
tly reproved him by assuring him that even he would that 
night deny him thrice. It is in this way that the chapter 
from which our text is taken is introduced. A solemn si- 
lence seems to pervade the little assembly ; Peter, though he 
abhors the idea of denying his Lord, is confounded at the 
prediction; and such is the dismay and sorrow which fill 
their hearts in the awful suspense, that all power of utterance 
or reply seems taken away. The scene is opening, the trag- 
edy is about to commence, and they now hear it announced 
that friends will forsake while enemies accomplish the mur- 
derous deed. 

Such thoughts as these seem to fill their breasts when their 
Master breaks the silence : " Let not your hearts be troub- 
led; ye believe in God, believe also in me. Ye trust in 
God, place the same trust in me. I go to prepare a man- 
sion for you, and, when this is done, will come again and 
receive you unto myself." The bare mention of his coming 
again brings some consolation, and Thomas takes courage 
to ask, " Lord, we know not whither thou goest ; and how 
can we know the way ?" Jesus replies, " I am the way, the 
truth, and the life." He then proceeds at considerable 
length, with such assurances as would tend to sooth their dis- 

* Verse 50. 



CfiRISTS LEGACY TO HIS DISCIPLES. 121 

tfacted minds, and promises that whatsoever they should ask 
the Father in his name they should receive it ; that he him- 
self would not be long absent from them ; he would not 
leave them orphans ! and that the Comforter, who should 
come in his name, should abide with them forever. He then 
gives them his last will in the words of our text : " Peace I 
leave with you :" not gold, or silver, or titles, or wordly hon- 
ours, but peace ; and that peace not such as the world could 
give, but my peace, says Jesus ! 

I. Show that by nature we are not at peace with God 
II. Consider the kind of peace that Jesus leaves us. 

I. By nature we are not at peace with God. 

What more finished picture could be given of our fallen 
state than this, that we are enemies to God by nature ; that 
therefore in this state we are not at peace with him, &c. — 
However galling the yoke may feel to the neck of a sinner 
to acknowledge this, it is an assertion made in this book, 
and an assertion which may be proved by argument and ex- 
perience. 

Let me, however, qualify the term. The sinner may not 
hate God as his Creator, but he does hate him as his Sover- 
eign, his Lawgiver, and his Judge. As his Laivgiver, he 
hates that book wherein the revelation of his law or will is 
made ; this he cannot deny. The commandments of God 
are grievous to him, and his heart revolts against them. As 
his Sovereign, he hates his righteous sceptre, and says, 
$ Depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy 
ways." I appeal to the sinner, and ask, dost thou not wish 
that Sovereign was less holy than he is ; that there was in 
him a mixture of impurity, to countenance thy corrupt de- 
sires and inclinations ; less true than he is, that he might 
not take cognizance of every little prevarication and false- 
hood ; less wise, that he might not be acquainted with thy 
hidden springs of wickedness ; less omnipresent, that he 
was not present at all thy outward abominations ? As his 
Judge, would not the sinner wish him less strict than he is, 
less rigid and inflexible in the judgment he will hereafter 
11 Q 



122 Christ's legacy to his disciples. 

pronounce upon him ; less powerful, that he might not be 
able to punish him to the extent threatened and deserved ! 
Thus to what level would he reduce God ? To his own 
level ; to a sink of iniquity and corruption like himself. 
He would detract from all his attributes except mercy, 
whereas a God all mercy is a God unjust, and a God un- 
just is no God at all ! Thus the sinner would rob him of 
his omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, his justice, 
and dwindle him down till, if possible, he would extirpate 
his very being ! 

If, therefore, in common life, a subject of an earthly king 
should aim a blow at one of his prerogatives, or one of the 
attributes of his crown, he is counted a traitor, a rebel to 
his lawful sovereign, and is punished accordingly ; so the 
creature who would derogate from any of the essentials of 
the King of Kings is a rebel to that Sovereign, his very en- 
emy, and, as such, is subject to the decree of the High 
Chancery of Heaven, &c. — " The soul that sinneth it shall 
die." 

I trust I have shown from Scripture, from experience^ 
from argument, to a demonstration, that the sinner is a very 
enemy of God ! and, however galling the yoke and vile the 
opprobrium, he must bear it. 

But it was the great mission of Heaven in sending Jesus 
to restore peace. He was the great Ambassador of God! 
Oh ! what condescension ! to reflect that God, who was the 
party injured, should make the overtures of reconciliation : 
he, against whom we were fighting, who was never at war 
with us, beseeches us to be reconciled to himself. Hence, 
when the angel announced the birth of Jesus, it was " Peace 
upon earth" — not peace in heaven — and hence also Jesus 
leaves us peace : " My peace I give unto you." 

II. Consider the kind of peace that Jesus leaves us. 

My peace. He himself contrasts his peace with that 
which the world affords its votaries, and therefore we shall 
endeavour to run the comparison in a few particulars. 

1. The peace which the world gives, being only created 
by perishing objects, is liable to perish also ; hence the in- 
spired penman tells us " they all perish in the using." And 



CHRIST S LEGACY TO HIS DISCIPLES. 123 

none are so foolish as those who thus make to themselves 
peace. If it arise from riches, they take to themselves wings 
and fly away. If from honour, it is a mere bubble which 
hangs upon the lip of flattery, and soon drops into the ocean 
of forgetfulness. If from pleasure, however refined its na- 
ture, it perishes in the using. 

I speak not of those filthy pleasures in which thousands 
delight, but of such as are suitable to a more refined taste ; 
and how do these consume away ! The pleasing scene, 
the rural cot, the dashing cascade, the ivied turret, the hum- 
ble vale, the aspiring mount, &c, &c, all die away ! 

Perhaps all the peace which this world gives its votaries, 
or offers them, may be reduced to one or other of these 
heads ; and how insufficient these are to give peace to an 
immortal mind you know. 

Not so the peace of Jesus ! It does not perish in the 
using. The riches which he gives are unsearchable, and, 
being hid in himself, are eternal and durable as himself. 
They do not flee from the possessor, but enrich him with the 
true riches in this and in the world to come ! The honour 
which he bestows does not depend upon the uncertain ap- 
plause of a blinded rabble. It is the honour of Him with 
whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The 
Christian seeks this honour from above ; and as his are the 
true riches, so his is the true honour. The pleasures he de- 
lights in do not fade away, but are ever unfolding new beau- 
ties to his ravished soul. His joys are joys unspeakable and 
full of glory. He enjoys the pleasures which are at God's 
right hand for evermore ; the pleasure which arises from the 
testimony of his conscience that he pleases God. " My 
peace I give unto you," says Jesus ; " not as the world giv- 
eth give I unto you." 

2. But even supposing that peace derived from hence 
were durable, that the person preserve his riches, his hon- 
ours, and his pleasures, they are not solid enjoyments ; the 
peace which they produce is not a satisfactory one ; it has 
been sufficiently proved by experience that these things do 
not make a man happy. On the contrary, how often do 
they produce unhappiness ; how often do they cause the 



124 Christ's legacy to his uisciplesv 

sorrowful exclamation, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity f** 
And all this is inevitable : the soul is of nobler birth ; such 
company as these is too low, too mean for it. It is the off- 
spring of an immortal ; and, though lying in this ruined, de- 
based state, yet, the moment that it sees its lost and undone 
condition, its language is that of the jailer at Philippi : 
" What shall I do to be saved ?" The soul, if left to itself, is 
ever restless after that true enjoyment : hence the pleasure- 
taker runs from scene to scene ; the debauchee from one 
haunt of vice to another : hence the card-table succeeds the 
dance ; the play the card-table ; the ball after the theatre ; 
those souls which were made for nobler pleasures are run- 
ning as if out of breath from one object to another, thirsting 
still, and still unsatisfied. But when awakened it acknowl- 
edges its original, and asks how it shall arrive at its own 
abode, The soul can be satisfied with nothing but God ; if 
it feed upon anything else, it is like one eating husks ; it 
feels a disappointment, a gnawing, a vacuum : when enjoy- 
ing the beauties of creation — -the pleasures of ever so refined 
an imagination — it is the secret language of the heart, "But 
these are not my God." There is nothing savoury in them 
to the palate. ##,#<*.# 

But the peace- of Jesus is like himself : it is a peace which 
passes all understanding; it is a peace which the world 
knows nothing of; a peace which the world can neither 
give nor take away. — My peace I give unto you, &c, &c. 
" Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon 
the earth that I desire beside thee." 

3. Again, the peace of this world is~ not only perishing in 
its own nature, but it is liable to perish from another cause. 
The peace it gave its votary is often taken away by the very 
hand that gave it, and that which yesterday was the cause- 
of all his peace and joy, is to-day the source of all sorrow. 
(See the parent and the child.) Man is so fickle, that we 
cannot depend a moment on the peace which arises from 
him. How often have we seen fortune as if emptying her 
lap into the bosom of her slave to-day, and leaving him the 
next, shorn and undone. How have we known a proud 
Haman to be exalted to the pinnacle of human greatness 



125 

<one day, and the next hanged upon a gibbet by the very 
man by whom he had been so caressed. How have we 
known a MenzikofF in our day the dread of Russia ; this 
day fawned upon by high and low, rich and poor, supreme 
power seeming to sit upon his brow, and nod her commands, 
which none dare disobey ; the next day an outcast and a 
slave, banished into Siberia by the very man who had thus 
elevated him. How have we not seen, with regard to our 
Lord and Master, the rabble one day crying out Hosanna 
to the Son of David, and the next day, with louder strains, 
u Crucify him, crucify him !" 

But not so the peace of Jesus ! No time, no place can 
take this from us. " For I am persuaded that neither life 
nor death, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor 
things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor 
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the 
love of God which is in Jesus our Lord." My peace, says 
Jesus, I give unto you. 

4. But even supposing that this should not be the case ; 
supposing the stream of your peace should not be diverted 
from its channel, yet the spring may run dry ; the inability 
of that friend upon whom you rely may overcome his inclina- 
tions ; or death may rob you of that treasure, and you thus 
lose the staff upon which you leaned and depended. 

But you need not fear this with regard to Jesus ; he is the 
King eternal as well as unchangeable ; the source can never 
run dry. My peace, says Jesus, I give unto you. 

5. But what peace can the world give in the hour of ad- 
versity ? Jesus particularly contrasted his peace with that 
of the world at this juncture — the disciples were then filled 
with sorrow ; what peace could the world give them ? How 
often is the worldling left to himself in this extremity ? To 
such he would say, " Miserable comforters are you all." 
See Voltaire dying. See a parent's heart bleeding from the 
loss of a child. 

But the peace of Jesus will be the sweetener of life, the 
solace of death, and the cordial which will support you when 
passing through the dark valley ; " in all time of our tribu- 



126 CHRIST*S LEGACY TO HIS DISCIPLES. 

lation, in a]l time of our prosperity, in the hour of death 7 
and in the day of judgment." 
Application. 

1. To penitent sinners ; he gives this peace freely ! 

2. To believers ; he leaves it with you ! 

And what is the peace of the wicked ? Isaiah says, " It 
is as the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast 
op mire and dirt !" Jude says, " Foaming out his own 
shame !" and if this be the peace he has, what is his tumult! 
When the diabolical principles which rage within begin to 
rise ; when the steel of passion which has been so often 
hardened in the fire of hell is applied to his flinty heart ; 
when struck by diabolical agency, how do the sparks fly 
around from every member of his miserable body : see his 
eyes, the windows ! the flames of hell are already kindled 
within- — his whole frame is convulsed. — Or, when the small- 
est breath of anger, disappointment, envy, or malice blows 
upon his soul, how is the filth which lies at the bottom of his 
heart excited and the whole sea of passion in a tumult ! 
" There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked !" 

But what is the peace which Jesus gives ? Oh ! what a 
change when His peace pervades the soul ! when, being jus- 
tified by faith, we have, after all this turmoil, " peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ." " There is therefore 
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus ? 
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Jesus 
has spoken peace! the waves have ceased; the heart has vi- 
brated to the sound : peace ? peace from every string : the 
sweetest unison now prevails ! " My peace I give unto you ;, 
not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart 
be troubled, neither let it be afraid," 



THE BELIEVER'S HOPE. 127 



SERMON XVII. 

THE BELIEVER'S HOPE. 

1 Peter, i., 3-5. — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved 
in heaven for you, 

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be re- 
vealed in the last time. 

A slight glance at this epistle will convince any one that 
those to whom it was written were then in a suffering state. 
" Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if 
need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations ; 
that the trial of your faith being much more precious than 
of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, being 
found unto praise, and honour, and glory at the appearing of 
Jesus Christ." (Some contend that it was a fiery trial — that 
they were literally called to burn.) " For this is thankwor- 
thy, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suf- 
fering wrongfully."* " But and if ye suffer for righteous- 
ness' sake, happy are ye : and be not afraid of their terror, 
neither be troubled ; having a good conscience, that, where- 
as they speak evil of you, as of evil-doers, they may be 
ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in 
Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye 
suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing, "f 

The apostle calls those whom he addresses strangers (1st 
verse) ; and though this may mean the dispersed Jews (as 
in James's epistle) 5 who were strangers in those heathen 
countries in which they resided, yet in another sense they 
were strangers, even as all Christians should be while here. 

The apostle of the Gentiles, when writing to the He- 
brews, says, "Here we have no continuing city;" we are 
therefore strangers here : and in the same epistle, speaking 

* 1 Pet., ii., 19. f Chap, iii., 14-17. See also chap, iv., 12, to the end. 



128 the believer's hope. 

of the worthies, he says, " They confessed they were stran- 
gers and pilgrims." St. Peter in this epistle says the same : 
" Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims," 
&c. — Chap, ii., 11. Jacob says he was a sojourner, as all 
his fathers were. Enlarge on this. Now the excellent of 
mankind have always considered themselves strangers in this 
point of view ; and no true Christian should be ashamed of 
the title. How little does a pilgrim want ! So the Christian. 
This, says he, is not Jerusalem-; this is not my God. When 
wealth pours into a church * * * John Nelson's opinion.* 

Yet though in these circumstances, he does not repine, but 
breaks forth as in the text, " Blessed be the God and Fa- 
ther of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abun- 
dant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
incorruptible and undeflled, and that fadeth not away, re- 
served in heaven for you." 

In our text we notice three particulars. 

I. An expression of thanksgiving : "Blessed," &c. 
II. The privilege of all true believers. " They are ac- 
cording to his abundant mercy begotten again to a lively 
hope," &c. 

III. This inheritance is reserved for them, and they are 
kept for it. 

I. An expression of thanksgiving. 

We before hinted that, painful as was their situation, the 
apostle rejoices in it ; no sooner does he close his salutation 
(verse 2) than he seems anxious to break forth in praise to 
God. All the apostles were of the same mind : see Paul in 
Romans : " If so be that we suffer with him that we may be 
also glorified together." James also : " Count it all joy 
when ye fall into divers temptations." St. John, when ad- 
mitted to see the heavenly glory, was told, " These are they 
which come out of great tribulation." Now there is no soul 

* John Nelson was one of the early preachers in connexion with Mr. Wesley, and, 
in the language of Southey, " Had as high a spirit and as brave a heart as ever Eng- 
lishman was blessed with.'* 



129 

of man but should join in this thanksgiving. Find out the 
vilest sinner, it would be his language : " Blessed be God, I 
am not in hell." Trace the cause of blessedness from the 
vilest sinner to the saint, and they heighten in proportion. 
(Wesley's hymn.) 

In the Old Testament God is always called the God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because with them the cove- 
nant was immediately made ; and their children, by address- 
ing God by that title, were reminded of that covenant, and 
by faith pleaded the fulfilment thereof. (Solomon's ad- 
dress.) 

But in the New Testament this is laid aside, and he is 
called by a more endearing title, " God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ," the mediator of the better covenant, es- 
tablished in all things and sure : and when they now address 
God by this title they are reminded of the covenant made 
with Jesus and ratified by his own blood. Thus imbolden- 
ed, they plead with God that, having given his Son, he will 
with him give them all things. The believer therefore has 
a more endearing title by which to address God. God him- 
self has now, by his Son, assumed human nature, and he can 
speak to him face to face, and yet live. (Enlarge. — 2 Cor., 
i. ? 3. Eph., i., 3.) 

II. Though all may join in general thanksgiving, yet now 
we come to that part in which believers only can join. — 
" According to his abundant mercy." — Every blessing to 
man flows through the stream of God's mercy. — Beautiful 
as the word mercy is, it is too mean to express the strength 
of the idea which the love of God should convey to us. 
Hence the apostles frequently add other words to height- 
en its signification ; language is too barren ; the term is 
too poor for that infinite, disinterested, causeless compassion 
in the mind of God towards abject worms. So Paul (Ti- 
tus, hi., 5, 6) seems lost to strengthen the word mercy: 
" Which he shed on us abundantly" Again : " God who is 
rich in mercy;" and in our text, " abundant mercy." It 
is abundant beyond measure. Spontaneous, unasked for by 
man. — 

A man once thought he had sinned too much to be for- 

R, 



130 

given ; and putting all his sins, with all their aggravations, 
on one side of a paper, he fled to a lonely castle — while 
there, he wrote with his pencil all the promises he could think 
of upon the other side. And lo, he found such an abundance 
of mercy that his sins were lost, swallowed up in God ! ! — 
Enlarge here on God's mercy being the moving spring pri- 
marily , and the cause of Jesus and all the blessings from Jesus. 
He " hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ from the dead." When Christ died, the 
hopes of his followers died also ; we cannot think of their state 
without peculiar emotion ; their hopes were buried with their 
Master : " We thought it was he who should have redeem- 
ed Israel.' ' (Enlarge on similar texts.) It was then a dead 
hope ; but now, when Christ rises, the hope again revived, 
and flourished again ; and as their hope had been entombed 
with him, so with him it left the tomb. It rose with their 
Master, and was now a living, a lively hope : " He hath be- 
gotten this hope in us again." The hope within us had 
'died, but he again begot, again produced it. 

(Dwell on the hope of the Christian : " It is the anchor of 
the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that 
within the veil whither our forerunner has for us entered. 
He who has this hope purifies himself even as he is pure." 
Show who are possessors of this hope and have claim to it ; 
the sinner's is a dead hope, for Christ has never risen in his 
heart). This is the hope that shall never perish again, like 
that of the hypocrite, &c. 

" By the resurrection from the dead." We are not to 
suppose that the apostle excluded the other parts of our 
Lord's life, his sufferings or death, but that he includes the 
whole in this one in the resurrection ; for it put the crown 
$n all the rest. Show that his death would have been of no 
tavail to us if he had not risen again. Though he died for 
our sins, and thus, by his death, paid the price of our re- 
demption, yet we could never have laid hold on God by the 
faith of Jesus if we had not been assured of God's acceptance 
of him, and of his thus rising for our justification. (Enlarge 
here.) Hence the apostles preached Jesus and the resur- 
rection. 



131 

Now God hath begotten us ; we are now his children, and 
entitled to the inheritance of children ; ours is no empty 
title ; if children, then heirs, says St. Paul. So St. Peter : 
being children, we are entitled to an inheritance incorrupti- 
ble, undenled, and that fadeth not away. Here is an allu- 
sion to the terrestrial Canaan, which was corruptible— but 
this is undefiled, untainted, unsullied ; not annoyed by wick- 
ed men, with which that land was polluted. 

Fadeth not away. The crown at the Olympic games was 
composed of perishable materials ; but this is one which 
" neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break 
through and steal." (Quote what the various apostles and 
evangelists say on it.) St. Paul tells us what the possession 
is, " heirs of God." What the glory will be we know not ; 
but when Christ shall appear we shall be like him. Let this 
satisfy us. Let us not again forget that this is procured by 
Jesus Christ for us ; with him, everything. 

III. It is reserved for them, &c. Oh ! the contrast ; re- 
served in heaven ! this marks its security- — allusion to the 
bulwarks made use of, and the outposts to defend a country ; 
garrisoned at every point, fully equipped to defend the pos- 
session or estate. And has God made heaven thus secure 
to us ? Does he guard our possession by his own Almighty 
power, and ensure us the full enjoyment of it ? What arm, 
then, can rob us of our estate ? He himself is our shield, 
our defence. Fear nothing, little Jacob. 

But you are kept for it — allusion to the ancient practice 
when an heir to a great possession is born : he was taken 
into a strong fortress, and there kept, lest he should be de- 
stroyed. And does God thus keep his children ? Heirs to 
such a vast estate ? Does he snatch them and lodge them 
under his wing ? Round all their glory he makes a defence. 
Oh ! how secure is the believer in Christ ! the believer in 
the present tense ; love God. 

But yet man is not to be saved as a machine. Though 
his salvation is all of grace, yet faith is the instrument by 
which man must apprehend God. Our weapons are spirit- 
ual ; and we must keep a constant hold of the promises of 
God by faith. Faith brings the blessings down. — Enlarge. 
— -Faith is as the hand to the body. 



132 THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH. 

All heaven is concerned for us ; God's almighty power is 
pledged to protect us. What, then, can harm us if we be 
followers of that which is good ? 



SERMON XVIII. 

THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH. 

Isaiah, xi., 10. — And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand 
for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek : and his rest shall be glo- 
rious. 

How precious are the promises contained in this chapter ! 
" The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and the young 
lion, and the fatling together ; and a little child shall lead 
them." " For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (equivalent to Zecha- 
riah, ix.). If it be inquired how or by what means this great 
work shall be effected, the answer from our text is obvious : 
" In that day," that is, the Gospel dispensation. A day in 
Scripture is an indefinite portion of time ; Christ himself 
calls his dispensation a day : " Abraham rejoiced to see my 
day, and he saw it and was glad." It is called " a day of 
salvation ;" hence Paul applied it to his time : " Behold, 
now is the day of salvation." It is with us the same day ; the 
day of the Gospel dispensation is now : " The sun of Righ- 
teousness is shining with healing in his wings." 

I. Consider what is meant by the root of Jesse. 

II. How it shall be an ensign for the people. 

III. The blessed promise, " To it shall the Gentiles seek." 

IV. Consider the glorious rest promised to such. 

(Get our minds in a proper frame ; sit as under the 
cross, as if you saw the blessed Jesus exalted.) 
I. Consider what is meant by the root of Jesse. 
The person meant by this is the Lord Jesus Christ, that 



THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH. 133 

complex being who is very God and very man. In our text 
we have, 

1. His Divine nature pointed out ; and it is very important 
to observe it. He is called " the root of Jesse ;" for, as 
God, he was the first of all beings ; the root of Adam as well 
as every living thing. Hence David in spirit called him 
Lord : " The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right 
hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Bat though 
his Divine nature only is pointed out here, yet I take it, 

2. That his human nature is implied. Turn to the first 
verse : " And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of 
Jesse, and a branch shall grow up out of his roots." Here 
is his humanity : he grows out of the stem of Jesse. Ob- 
serve the wonderful beauty of the figure. — Through all the 
changes of David's family they are reduced from royalty to 
abject poverty; no mark of dignity attaches itself to them, 
and yet God had wonderfully preserved the line distinct, and 
it was just about to expire when the Messiah came. But the 
prophet does not say, " A rod shall come out of David" 
but of Jesse ; it shall spring, not from the royal branches, all 
these are lopped off; but, like an old tree cut down, the stump 
only remaining in the ground, a rod, or, as the word may 
mean, scion, sprig, a little stem shall shoot up, as if the old 
stump were left in the ground for this purpose ; a straight, 
slender twig shall come out and grow up to perfection. 
God passes by all the stately cedars of the Jews, and pitch- 
es upon the neglected stem — "his roots;" they barely re- 
mained, yet these roots send forth the Branch. (Dwell on 
the fine idea.) Thus Christ is the stem as well as the root 
of Jesse ; hence St. John beautifully connects the two 
ideas : # " The root and offspring of David." Perhaps God 
meant to show that, in sending his Messiah into the world, 
the most humble state should be his : hence he pitches not 
on royalty, but traces him to David's first state of humilia- 
tion : " For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, 
and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath no form nor 
comeliness : and when we shall see him, there is no beauty 
that we should desire him." 

II. How it shall be an ensign for the people. 

* Revelation, xx. 

12 



134 THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH 

It may have two meanings, referring either to the stand- 
ard itself, which was called the ensign, or to the standard- 
bearer. In both these senses it will apply to Jesus Christ. 

The standard was used first in the camp ; the hosts were 
marshalled under it. In the camp it is like the pillar of fire 
and cloud ; it will station with thee in the camp. Secondly, 
in the march it went before and led on the company. So 
our standard is raised on high and carried before us, and we 
are commanded to follow the cross. " But God forbid that 
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
world." Show the need that Christians have to be encour- 
aged in the march by the ensign being carried before them. 
Thirdly, in the battle. (Constantine.) So long as the stand- 
ard is kept elevated, victory may yet be gained ; it is the 
token of conquest being yet undecided — the battle not 
finally won. So in our fights, so long as our standard is un- 
furled we rally to it and fight beneath it — victory is certain, 
not dubious ; for the standard cannot be plucked out of the 
hand of Omnipotence. Fourthly, it is used in the triumph, 
in exultation, and of joy. Thus, then, shall it be when all 
Christ's cross-bearers will come forth with, not laurels, but 
" everlasting joy upon their heads." 

But, 2. As to the ensign itself. In this point of view it 
answers to Christ : he stands for an ensign. 1. See Mount 
Calvary — Paul was not ashamed of a crucified master. 2. 
He is lifted upon the pole of a preached Gospel. Paul to 
the Galatians : they had not seen Jesus with their eyes, and 
yet they had, says St. Paul, seen him crucified among them. 
It was doubtless in this sense he meant it. On this pole he 
is now elevated, and shall continue to be to the end of 
the world. Miserable are those Christless sermons in which 
this is hardly touched upon. 

III. "What a blessed promise ! the Gentiles shall yet 
flock to this standard. We had a proof of this in the 
wise men — they sought to it ; next in the Syro-Phceni- 
cian woman, of whom our Lord said, " Great is thy faith," 
&c. — See the case of the Roman centurion — next Corne- 
lius, a seed of Gentilism, which produced the conversion 



THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH. 135 

of all his house. And see in our day, whenever the light 
is sent abroad, how the poor heathen flock to it. All Gen- 
tiles ; we too are Gentiles, and have sought this ensign. 
However it is despised now, the nations shall seek to it, for 
" Righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters cover 
the sea." 

IV. The glorious rest promised. 

Some think the rest here refers to the building of the Jew- 
ish temple. For above five hundred years the Shechinah 
inhabited a moveable tabernacle, and this was never called 
his rest. But when Solomon built the Temple, God said he 
would dwell there, and that should be the place of his rest. 
This was the Holy of Holies, in which he displayed his glory 
between the cherubim ; and it might well be called a glori- 
ous rest. At times the high-priest could not enter in because 
of the glory of this rest. Now, this Holy of Holies was a 
type of the Christian and Gospel dispensation, our Mount 
Zion — this hill of the Lord. This is his rest ; and how often 
has the glory of the Lord been displayed among us ? Wit- 
ness Paul's prayer for the Ephesians : " For this cause I bow 
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he 
would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be 
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man ; that 
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being 
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 
with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of 
God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the 
power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church 
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. 
Amen." This rest is peculiarly the Lord's. But, whether it 
refer to this or not, there is a rest which those experience 
who seek to this standard, a rest from sin here ; but oh ! what 
will it be in the world to come, when all his saints shall 
stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, clothed with his glory ! 
" Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into 



136 THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH. 

the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them 
that love him." (Cheer the Christian up with the prospect 
given of this rest in the 5th Revelations.) " And they sang a 
new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to 
open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeem- 
ed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our 
God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth. 
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round 
about the throne, and the beasts and the elders : and the 
number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud voice, Worthy 
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and 
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, 
and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that 
are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glo- 
ry, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb forever and ever." 

Application. — The standard has now been lifted up : 
Christ has been set forth, &c, on the pole of this Gospel. 
Sinner, hast thou sought to it ? Christ suffered this for thee ! 
— See his blood, his hands, &c, and wilt thou sin against 
so much love ? Oh ! seek to it. 

Believer, this is thy ensign ; it is thy banner, under which 
alone thou art safe in the march ; under which alone thou 
canst fight in security, and by which alone thou wilt tri- 
umph. Hold on ! the rest shall yet be glorious — we were 
Gentiles, and had no right to the covenant of promise after 
the flesh. Come, poor pilgrim, after all thy fighting here, 
though doomed to hardship and many a battle, there is a 
rest, a glorious rest. Only take care to keep thy life hid 
with Christ in God, and, if thou put it in this casket, it will 
be preserved till that day as a precious jewel when Christ 
brings forth this treasure and shows those costly deposites. 



AN INCENTIVE TO EARLY PIETY. 137 



SERMON XIX. 

TO CHILDREN. 
AN INCENTIVE TO EARLY PIETY. 

Proverbs, viii,, 17. — I love them that love me ; and those that seek me early shall 

find me. 

Written by Solomon — wise sayings. How did he ob- 
tain wisdom 1 What text in New Testament similar to it ? 
Now he personifies her. 

By wisdom here we are not to understand that of the world, 
but that which St. Paul preferred above all knowledge ; the 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of it ; it is the first lesson it 
teaches ; many think they are very wise, and yet are igno- 
rant of this first lesson of wisdom. 

Two things are here implied : First, that we have lost wis- 
dom ; we never seek until we discover we have lost ; in- 
deed, men do not think that they are ignorant. (Flavel, vol. 
ii., p. 179.) They, 1st, seemed to themselves wise ; 2d, only 
lovers of wisdom ; 3d, only rhetoricians, or those who could 
speak on wisdom, but knew little of it ; 4th, idiots, with in- 
crease of learning — laying by pride.— Spiritualize.- — Dr. 
Livingston— like a vessel cast into the sea. — Yet many say 
they know God ; but I mean a knowledge which implies ac- 
quaintance, as if I asked you, " Do you know the President, 
or the Mayor of New- York ?" Now if you feel this you can- 
not rest easy ; the chicken might teach you, or the strayed 
lamb ; offer the lamb a handful of sweet grass, or the lost 
chicken the sweetest bread, they run away j so a person who 
feels he has lost God takes no rest, &c. 

It implies, secondly, that, unless we find wisdom here, and 
know it experimentally, we can never dwell with God here 
after, for heaven differs not — * * # 



I. Where may I find wisdom ? 
II. How am I to seek it ? 
III. How may I obtain it ? 

S 



138 AN INCENTIVE TO EARLY PIETY. 

I. Where may I find wisdom ? 

Solomon describes wisdom as saying, " The Lord pos- 
sessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of 
old;" and again, " The Lord giveth wisdom;" and Paul 
says, " To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for- 
ever." Now, wherever God has appointed to meet us, there 
wisdom may be found ; it is true, he is everywhere by his 
essential presence, even in hell, but not found there ; but 
wherever his gracious and special presence, &c. 

1. He is not to be found among any of those scenes which 
are acted upon the Sabbath. If you seek there, you only 
increase the distance. — Gardens of pleasure — steamboats — 
Broadway — many keep the Sabbath only in church hours. 

2. Nor at the card or gambling table. — Locke and his 
friends. — Mr. Wesley and prayer. — I regret that steamboats 
allow it * * * * * # 

3. Nor in the theatre. Let me dwell here. — I dare to 
name it (Burder) — and who is the man now that at noonday 
would be seen there ? It is only when night draws her cur- 
tain. — I have been in the secret. (Chesterfield.) — I left 
them ; they did not leave me. — Christians of old abhorred 
them — even pagans. — Objection, " I can learn as much as 
at a sermon." An elegant writer observes — Tillotson — 
Bishop — Harvey and the lady. 

Where then ? Why, hear the Lord, Ex., xx., 24 : " An al- 
tar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice there- 
on thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and 
thine oxen ; in all places where I record my name I will 
come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Now his name is 
recorded here — the Lord's house. — How pleasing to look on 
you ! Who would not rather see you here than at a play- 
house? " The Lord loveth the gates of Zion." 

But not merely in these large places ; for "where two or 
three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst 
of them;" — in private, Matt., vi., 6: " But thou, when 
thou pray est, enter into thy closet ; and when thou hast shut 
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 
Your Father sees you, and that not with indifference. 



AN INCENTIVE TO EARLY PIETY. 139 

But he has revealed himself in a book — " Able to make 
wise unto salvation." — Search the Scriptures. — The greatest 
and best of men have been remarkable for their love to the 
Bible. Wesley — " I have thought that I am a creature of a 
day, passing through life, as the arrow through the air. I 
am a spirit come from God and returning to God : just hov- 
ering over the great gulf till a few moments hence I am no 
more seen ! I drop into an unchangeable eternity ! I want 
to know one thing, the way to heaven : how to land safe on 
that happy shore. God himself hath condescended to teach 
me the way ; for this very end he came from heaven. He 
hath written it down in a book ! Oh ! give me that book ! 
At any price give me the book of God ! I have it : here is 
knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book. 
Here I am far from the busy ways of men. I sit down 
alone : only God is here. In his presence I open, I read 
this book ; for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there 
a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read ? Does 
anything appear dark or intricate ? I lift up my heart to the 
Father of lights : Lord, is it not thy word, ' If any man lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God ?' Thou ' givest liberally and 
upbraidest not.' Thou hast said, ' If any man be willing to 
do thy will he shall know I am willing to do :' let me know 
thy will." 

II. How we are to seek wisdom. 

1. Get your mind deeply impressed with the promise,' 
" They that seek me shall find me ;" believe it as the word 
of God, that can never fail. Unless in your public and pri- 
vate devotion you are deeply impressed with this, you will 
not find. — Be it according to thy faith. — This is faith of 
which you have heard so much ; it is believing the word of 
God : " He who cometh to God must believe that he is, and 
that he is a re warder of them that diligently seek him ;" he 
will reward them with this knowledge of himself : the word 
preached only profits when mixed with faith in them that 
hear it. 

2. Firmly believing that God will keep his word, you now 
ask him ; for he only giveth to them that ask him : " If any 
man or child lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to 



240 AN INCENTIVE TO EARLY PIETT 

all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given 
him." This was Solomon's way; oh! how many parents 
teach their children to get money. But see the 10th and 
11th verses of the context : " Receive my instruction, and 
not silver ; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For 
wisdom is better than rubies ; and all the things that may 
be desired are not to be compared to it." Yes, they mus$ 
part with it. — True, they hold it as long as they can, as the 
miser dying feeling his gold ; but it descends to others. But 

3. Persevere in seeking. A beggar would not come and 
leave his petition, and return no more ; if he get not the an- 
swer then, he comes again and again. — You know it takes 
you a long time, frequently, to learn your tasks ; you do not 
throw the book away because it is not at first acquired. 
Come again and again ; plead the promise— plead it very 
humbly ; tell the Lord you know that you do not deserve 
it, but that he has promised it for the sake of his Son, and 
say, Lord, I am a little child. — And do not be discouraged 
because you know so little : " Who hath despised the day 
of small things ?" 

4. And always obey up to any light you receive, however 
small — he will give more grace — do what he reveals — 
leave undone what he forbids ; you once said naughty words, 
now you know it is wrong — forsake it ; you once played with 
bad boys — now you would not play with a sweep — keep 
yourselves unspotted, 

III. When may I obtain it ? 

Why, this is just the time ; to you I emphatically say, this 
is the accepted time ; " early''' in life, just as the bud is open- 
ing, offer God the flower ; you have a special promise ; God 
peculiarly loves little children. Oh ! how different to a 
wrinkled sinner, debauchee — casting his old polluted car- 
cass, which is a sink of iniquity, upon God. See the woman 
who was forty years hearing sermons, and yet thought her 
soul a large bone. ^ % # # 

" Early''' in the day : " Early will I call upon thee '" 
" My voice shalt thou hear in the morning." Oh ! it is so 
sweet a time ; and then you come down to breakfast so heav- 
enly looking, and apply to your lessons ; and God blesses 



THE EELIEVER LONGING AFTER IMMORTALITY. 141 

you in school all day. Yes, and let me tell you that Dr. 
Doddridge * * * * 

Now, my dear children— I love you ; I hope to meet you 
in heaven where Jesus is, and I know that this is the way; 
I do not tell you that I believe it, but I know it : will you 
come along with me? Mark the promise: "They shall 
iind me." /promise you — Solomon promises you. But a 
greater than I or Solomon— God promises you. 

I will pray for you in the morning ; will you all meet me 
at a throne of grace in the morning ? Which of you will ? 
— (Conclude by an ejaculatory prayer ,) 



SERMON XX. 

THE BELIEVER LONGING AFTER IM3N1 O RT AL I T Y* 

2 Corinthians, v., 1-4. — For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens. 

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which 
is from heaven ; 

If ao be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we 
would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

What is the principle which causes the martyr to meet 
the stake with a smile, as if going to a wedding-feast ? 
What induces the missionary to bear every clime ? What 
bears the private Christian up above all the trials to which 
he is exposed ? It is the subject which animated the apos- 
tle's mind in the words before us. 

The Christian and the man of the world are not more dis- 
tinguished than by this one thing : the latter is taken up with 
time ; he sees not afar off; his heart and treasure are both 
here; but the Christian looks not at the things which are 
seen, but at those which are unseen and eternal. 

I. Enlarge a little upon the subject the apostle presents to 
our view. Death was a subject familiar with him; he had 
looked at it in every feature. Mark the familiarity and pro- 
priety of his expressions : 



142 THE BELIEVER LONGING AFTER IMMORTALITY. 

" Earthly house :" Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
return. 

"Tabernacle:" The Arab's tent not more liable to be 
struck — and we are gone. 

But is not this the lot of all men ? Why, then, do you 
not all view it thus ? Is there a shrinking from this thought ? 
Ah ! death is not familiar with you. Wherefore the differ- 
ence between you and the believer ? You cannot follow us 
now in the text. 

" We have a building of God" — he looked with rapture 
to the time when he should receive his glorious body ; this 
is God's building, "eternal" — not earthly — "in the heavens" 
fitted for that pure state of enjoyment. 

" We know this." It is no conjecture. 

II. The impression this made on the apostle's mind. 

" We groan ," not that we are querulous or complaining,, 
but we are from home ! like pilgrims in the desert, like chil- 
dren in a far country, we sigh, " I have a desire to depart, 
and to be with Christ ; which is far better." 

"Being burdened." Carrying a load with us; a load of 
corruption, pressing down the spirit and driving our duties 
into a corner ; burdened with sickness, disease ; burdened 
with temptation, always buffeted by the powers of hell. 
See preceding chapter, verse 8 : " We are troubled on ev- 
ery side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not in 
despair." 

Yet, in the midst of all this, with the big tear in our eye, 
for, believe me, we feel our sorrows, we exclaim as in the 
17th verse, " For our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
ment, worketh for us a far more- exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory." Our tears form a rainbow — and faith 
brings us near. 

"Not that ive woidd be unclothed" — Our desire is not so 
much to die ; we wait our appointed time. God wills us to 
remain here, and we have learned to submit thereto, "as it 
is in heaven." The duties we owe to others also cause us 
to be reconciled ; it is more needful for you that we abide 
in the flesh — for us to live is Christ. 

" But clothed upon :" here is our desire: &c. 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 143 

" That mortality might be swallowed up of life." Oh ! 
this longing after immortality. 

III. More particularly point out the characters to whom 
this prospect is laid open : — in this chapter. 

They are thus distinguished : " Now he that hath wrought 
us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us 
the earnest of the Spirit" Abba-Father — the earnest of our 
inheritance : the Spirit itself bears witness. 

"We walk by faith, not by sight;" we have not seen, yet 
have believed. See the examples, Hebrews, xi. 

"We are confident" — a full certainty "that to be absent 
from the body is to be present with the Lord : wherefore 
we labour, that whether present or absent, we may be ac- 
cepted of him ;" not idle — whether present or absent- — to be 
accepted of him ! here is our aim — the applause of man is 
pleasing, but then our work is with the Lord ! our eye is 
on him ! his opinion is the final decision on our case ! Shall 
not I labour for this ? indifferent to the frown or flattery of 
men ; " For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of 
Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his 
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good 
or bad." 

Application. Lay hold on the 10th verse to apply to 
the sinner, and the 11th and 15th verses to apply to Chris- 
tians. Hold on a little longer. * * * 
*.'#■:*-*■•#.-•'..■# 



SERMON XXI. 

THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 
PREACHED IN BEHALF OF SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

John, ix., 4. — I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the 
night cometh, when no man can work. 

The history of the life of our blessed Lord and Saviour is 
highly interesting in all its parts and happy in all its con- 
nexions. He never for a moment lost sight of his one great 



144 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAT, 

business in the world ; it lay near his heart, and out of the 
heart's abundant fulness his mouth always spake. 

At a period of life when others are slumbering over the 
fancies of childhood we find him in the Temple amid Jewish 
doctors ; and when his anxious mother chidingly reproved 
him on account of the anxiety he had caused her, what was 
his reply ? " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's 
business ?" 

While urging on his rapid career, and fully engaged in 
the character of a prophet sent from God, in which he inti- 
mately blended the display of the Divine benevolence, his 
lips again and again echo the music of his heart : " I must 
work the works of him that sent me, while it is day ; the 
night cometh, when no man can work." In short, as long 
as he was in the world he was the light of the world : his 
business must be done while it was day — his night of death 
came, wherein he could no longer work ; the Sun of Righ- 
teousness was eclipsed ; creation participated in the shade — 
was enveloped in darkness and shrouded in her sablest hue ; 
but the eclipse was of short duration — while angelic hosts 
seized an interval to retune their harps for higher strains — 
that they might sing " to him who was dead and is alive ;" 
who rose with healing under his wings, and has finally taken 
his seat on his mediatorial throne ! 

But are we therefore not partakers of his light ? Yes ; 
for though the material sun may withdraw himself from our 
bodily eyes, yet we walk in the reflection of his rays even 
after his body is concealed from observation ; so, though 
the Sun of Righteousness, after having displayed his glory 
on our earth a few years, took his rapid flight to the re- 
gions of eternal day, yet he has left him that refulgence 
that he that keepeth his words shall not walk in dark- 
ness, but have the light of life ! The influences of his 
Spirit, which he has shed on us abundantly, shall enlight- 
en and enliven all who truly call him Lord, till we are 
lost in the full splendours of him "whom, having not seen, 
we love ; and in whom, though now we see him not, yet, 
believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory !" 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 145 

Having thus glanced at Christ's conduct generally, look 
we at our own. The great design of the Gospel of Christ 
was to raise man to a conformity with him here, that he 
might share the glories of that conformity hereafter. Did it 
behoove Jesus to fulfil all righteousness ? It was that the 
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us likewise. 
Was Jesus led by the Spirit ? We are to be conformed by 
being led by the same Spirit of God. Is it said of Jesus 
that in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ? It 
is said of us, the Spirit of God dwells in you, for ye are the 
temples of God ! Was Jesus demonstrated the Son of God 
with power by the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from 
the dead ? So far does our conformity extend, that we bear 
the same title of sons of God, and our mortal bodies shall be 
quickened by the same spirit of holiness dwelling in us ; we 
shall be raised by the same power which he wrought in 
Christ when he raised him, from the dead, and set him at 
his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all prin- 
cipality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every 
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that 
which is to come : being like him in death — for our bodies 
die — we shall be like him in the resurrection ; and, finally, 
we shall be conformed to him in glory ! But the apostle 
thus states the consummation of this last conformity : " If so 
be that we suffer with him !" this is the climax ! Hence 
Paul prayed to be a partner in the fellowship of his suffer- 
ings, and hence also the common phrase among the Chris- 
tians of the first age, " If we suffer with him we shall also 
reign with him." 

But though this was the completion of the conformity in 
that day, when they literally " died daily," and the strongest 
conformity they could manifest to Christ, yet no such neces- 
sity is imposed upon us ; the power of truth has subdued all 
legal opposition, and all that attaches itself to us by an un- 
godly world is " reproach.' 1 ' 1 A lazy profession, therefore, 
of readiness to suffer for Christ and his cause will not be 
accepted by him whose servants we are ; there is a doing 
as well as suffering ; and the touchstone of the Gospel is, " If 
ye love me, keep my commandments." And thus shall the 
13 T 



146 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 

iinal consummation song be sung by winged seraphs when 
admitting us into the portals of light through the pearly gates 
into the city : " Blessed are they that do his commandments." 

Such being the requisitions of the Gospel law of Christ, 
and such its final reward, the words in our text apply to all 
who tread in his steps, though primarily belonging to Christ's 
own work. Thus St. Paul applies their meaning to all ranks 
of Christians : " Let us do good unto all men, especially 
unto them that are of the household of faith ;" let us not be 
weary in well doing: to himself, I labour — not suffer — ac- 
cording to his Spirit working in me, &c. 

Various were the works which Jesus had to perform : 

1. As a prophet : "As the Father gave me command- 
ment, so I speak." 

2. As a sacrifice : " Lo, I come to do thy will." 

But his works of mercy, his Godlike acts, were so nearly 
allied to his nature — a nature which melted at human wo — 
that they mingle with his other characteristics, and shed a 
radiance on them which dazzles the mortal eye, showing 
a rich vein which runs through all his soul, glittering even 
through the human mould. These are the works particu- 
larly alluded to in our text — works of mercy ! 

The works of the Christian bear a close affinity with 
these, for the fruits of the Spirit are always the same ; as is 
the Lord, so is the servant, even in this respect. When 
Christ has revealed himself as a prophet to the sincere soul, 
who has submitted to be thus taught of God, the question of 
that soul is, " What shall I do that I may work the works of 
God ?" This is the work of God — the work which he re- 
quires of you — that ye believe on God and Jesus Christ whom 
he hath sent. When his spiritual life begins, and his suffer- 
ing scenes begin with it from the world, the flesh, or the 
devil, how then runs the promise ? " He that endureth to 
the end shall be saved." This is the work which he re- 
quires of you, to hold fast your confidence. But shall these 
two constitute the character of a Christian ? Shall this faith 
in Jesus, this first work of God, and this final perseverance 
in the profession of our faith, be accepted, unaccompanied 
by fruits ? No ; it is impossible. Faith which unites to 
Christ draws from its union with him all those graces which 



_^ DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 147 

shall fill its possessor with every fruit, even to the abound- 
ing in every good work. Faith is the root from which all 
good works must grow ; and in the same proportion as these 
are not produced, in the same proportion will the plant 
wither and die away ; nay, become twice dead, plucked up 
by the roots. Faith is not a principle which only unites to 
Christ, and brings forth fruit to itself, as the Ephesians of 
old, but fruit to others : " Herein is my Father glorified, that 
ye bring forth much fruit :" " Let your light so shine before 
men that they may see your good ivorks, and glorify your 
Father" (as if by sufferings Christ was glorified, and by our 
good works the Father is glorified) ; and as this conformity 
to Jesus, when derived from this principle, faith iv or king by 
love, assimilates us most to God, it is the final work which 
God requires, and that by which he will judge us in righ- 
teousness : " For if we say we love God, and love not (by 
actions) our brother, we are liars." (See Matt., xxv.) 

Thus does God require various work from us, according 
to our capacity to produce it, that we may "work out our 
own salvation with fear and trembling;" requiring faith in 
the sinner as the ground of his justification in the day of 
grace, and works, when time is afforded to produce thern, in 
the believer springing from that faith. God himself being 
the moving spring, he works in us, first the will, and then 
the power, to do of his own good pleasure. Thus is salva- 
tion finally of grace operating in man unto all riches of good- 
ness, forbearance, and long-suffering. Thus God gets all 
the glory, while man gets all the reward. "Oh! the depth 
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God !" 
I have been the more express here, because I do not mean 
to say much on the doctrine of the text in the remainder of 
my discourse. 

I. Speak of some of those works peculiar to Christianity. 

Christianity, even considered in its tendency to alleviate 
the natural calamities and promote the moral improvement 
of mankind, is evidently of God. In the experiment which 
once God himself permitted to be made by a people who 
were the centre of civilization and the focus of all human 
attainments, what do we find to have been accomplished by 



148 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 

them to better either of those states ? Nothing. " Man by 
wisdom knew not God :" none of their philosophers could 
by searching find him out ; and as they could not find out 
the fountain of all good, it is clear they could not draw from 
it any of the waters of life to sooth natural affliction or to 
heal moral disease. The great source of all virtue is the 
moral character of the Deity, and its only foundation is his 
will made known by revelation, and his image impressed on 
the heart. The ideas we form of God are our standard of 
moral excellence : as are the gods, such will be the wor- 
shippers. And what was the character of the Pagan dei- 
ties ? Instructed by the fables of their metamorphoses and 
sanctioned by their examples, their unhappy votaries lost all 
traces of goodness. # % # # # 

In the woful description given of them in the first chapter 
of Romans, in which the apostles lead us by the hand, step 
by step, into the horrors of that cavern whose bottom was 
level with the mouth of hell, he asserts that the first step into 
it was made from the views they had of Deity — they had 
changed the truth of God into a lie, and this, he says, was 
" because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not 
as God, neither were thankful :" it was thus that they " be- 
came vain in their reasonings, and their foolish hearts were 
darkened." It was thus that, " Professing themselves to be 
wise, they became fools : and changed the glory of the un- 
corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, 
and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." 
And what were the consequences ? As to moral disease, we 
find the very ideas horrid, and we cannot stand upon the 
mouth of this spiritual crater longer than a moment to look 
into the deep damning depravity ; human reason recoils, the 
heart sickens at the sight, and the vapours arising from this 
lava of spiritual corruption oblige us to withdraw : " Being 
filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, cov- 
etousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, de- 
ceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, de- 
spiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedi- 
ent to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, 
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 14$ 

As to natural infirmity, it was also forgotten. While 
they gloried in their attainments, and looked down on all the 
world, no Godlike institutions were formed to receive those 
whose calamities should have rendered them the pity of 
mankind. While temple after temple was upreared for the 
worship of fictitious deities, those beings who were made in 
the likeness of the true Deity were passed unheeded by. * * 
The humane, simple, unostentatious virtues, so conducive to 
the happiness of social life, were utterly disregarded ; weak- 
ness had no asylum, poverty no friend ; what are called the 
charities of life were unknown ! Ignorant of the true na- 
ture of the Deity, they saw nothing in him but vengeful ire, 
to appease which, even by the enlightened Romans, human 
sacrifices were not unfrequently made ! Being given over 
to an undiscerning mind, they could not discover the lustre 
of mercy in the diadem of the Deity. Hence Paul says they 
themselves were unmerciful ; nay, they had not natural af- 
fection ! 

After the example of this great people, I need not go farther 
to prove the state of man by nature left to the workings of his 
own corruptions. But behold the revelation of God ! How 
is He made known ? Is it as a Being fearful to look upon, 
upon whose shrine humanity is to be sacrificed and heca° 
tombs of groaning victims immolated ? No ! this was hea- 
then wisdom — wisdom from beneath — earthly, sensual, dev- 
ilish. The very first step in the faith of the Gospel requires 
that we believe that God is a " rewarder of them that dili- 
gently seek him." Thus the wisdom from above is merci- 
ful ; and, from this knowledge of the character of the Deity, 
she requires from the worshippers of such a Deity effects 
corresponding with such a revelation : on one side of the 
flag of triumph reared on the Capitol we read, " God is rich 
in mercy to all them that call upon him;" on the reverse 
we read, "Blessed are the merciful." 

Our own favoured islands have done more for the ameli- 
oration of human misery than any nation in the universe . 
This favoured city is the astonishment of every stranger ! 
Let him walk where he will ; let him ascend the summit of 
observation, and he sees edifices which, by their appearance, 



150 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 

lead his mind to inquiry, and fill it with astonishment when 
he finds them receptacles of disease, pain, wretchedness, 
and want. * * But as the Gospel of Christ is one which 
must change the heart, subdue our nature, and plant the 
seed of true morality — " the love of God in Christ" — so our 
institutions for the promotion of this and the remedying of 
moral disease leave the former "no glory, by reason of the 
glory that excelleth." In the same proportion as the value 
of the soul exceeds that of the body, in the same should our 
exertions for the salvation of the one exceed those for the 
salvation of the other. 

Of late this truth has become practical ; institutions have 
been formed which confine not their influences within any 
walls, however spacious. Like Him who does not confine 
his special or essential presence to temples made with hands, 
so these scatter their light over all the face of creation. The 
objects of beneficence are not brought within any concen- 
trated pale, but they are sought out far and wide, in every 
land of darkness or house of wo, and before they can ex- 
press their wants they find themselves possessed of their 
supplies. 

Among these institutions we class the Bible Society, 
Through the wide field of the universe the Gospel is now 
working its way ! and, under God, it is by the instrumen- 
tality of those who imbibe its spirit and feel its power ; those 
who are the true patriots of mankind — scattering around 
the seeds of religious knowledge ; those who are the genuine 
philanthropists, who dispel the mists of superstition, and say 
to the nations, "Behold your God!" those who, by circu- 
lating Bibles in the different languages of mankind, annul 
the curse of Babel and hold communion with all nations of 
the earth on a subject which involves their destinies, the im- 
mortal destinies of the whole human race. This is the cause 
of God ! It will prevail ! 

Other of these institutions are Missionary Societies, the 
handmaids of the Bible — it was not good that she should be 
alone ; a help-meet was provided. God has ever raised up 
men willing to die in the harness while drawing along the 
ark of our God, and among the distinguished the name of 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 151 

Coke will stand high enrolled ! Possessed of a body natu- 
rally weak — for it was born to ease, yet trained to hardship 
in the school of Christ — nineteen times he crossed the great 
Atlantic; as no dangers could intimidate him, so no obsta- 
cles could damp the ardour of his soul : he was the slave of 
Jesus ! But, alas ! he is not ; for God took him. He fell 
a victim to his zeal, and sunk into the ocean's bed. The 
body of this Moses has indeed been hidden from us ; but we 
sorrow not as those without hope; "his frame unwasted by 
disease, his features not distorted by pain," show the hand 
of mercy in the dispensation ; the silver cord was gently un- 
tied, and the spirit dismissed, while the body was committed 
to the watery grave in its accustomed bloom — fair presage 
of its beauteous resurrection ! He shall not be forgotten ; 
for on that day when God shall count his jewels, Coke shall 
be gathered from the ocean's bed, a diamond of the purest 
water.* 

The institution of Sunday-schools is the completion of a 
Godlike trinity, a three in one, which leads up to the great 
Three-One-Jehovah God. Though I name this institution 
last, it is not of inferior importance to either of the two pre- 
ceding ; I only class it in this order that I may dwell on it 
the more. The former relate generally to the dispersion of 
the truth of God to foreign lands ; this is a native crop ; 
while the former, in a certain sense, drain our coffers, this 
replenishes them and provides for the continuance of the 
others to another generation. # # # * 

In whatever point of view Sunday-schools are consider- 
ed, they are of incalculable importance. It may be laid 
down * * * Nay, the politician, the lover of his country, 
cannot but be assured that, so far as its influence extends, 
the best interests of mankind must be promoted. But what 
are the benefits accruing to the individual ? It is an insti- 
tution which makes not human learning the acme of its in- 
structions, but that learning which makes wise unto salvation. 
It combines genius with piety, &c. And thus the eternal 

* He died in 1814 while on his way to Ceylon at the head of a missionary band. 
-Ed. 



152 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY, 

concerns of man, his best interests, are allied to the tempo- 
ral advantages it holds forth. 

II. The duty imposed on us, urged by the example of 
Christ. 

" I must work the work of him that sent me, while it is 
day." God has so ordered the very constitution of our be- 
ing that it necessarily requires this. There is only one Be- 
ing, who lives for himself, whose own glory is the ultimate 
object which, from its essential nature, he must invariably 
pursue. He is independent. The annihilation of all crea- 
tion would not. diminish his felicity, nor does their existence 
yield it any addition. He is glory. # # # 

But obligation and mutual dependance are the conditions 
on which we receive our being. The same law is in na- 
ture — all hang on each other, though the great link is at- 
tached to the Eternal Throne. The sun shines not for 
himself. * * * So in the moral world. Angels are min- 
istering spirits. No man liveth to himself. Some men are 
suns, others but twinkling stars, but all are to shine, and, as 
far as we possess a capacity to bless, we are to be a bless- 
ing. This is the law of our being ; and yet, though it is the 
law of our being, God has even promised a recompense to 
its performance. In relieving the wants of others he could 
do without our aid ; he could feed his prophet on a barren 
rock ; he could put his spirit into all his creatures, and make 
them all Samuels ; but where would be the reward to 
the steward? He has employed stewards, to the faithful 
performance of whose duties he has connected a reward. 
Yet this reward is not of debt, but of grace ; God is debtor 
to no man ; of his mere grace he has promised the reward. 
The power to do good and the will are both from him, 
Should, therefore, the pride of man rise within him, on be- 
half of merit, he hears a voice sounding in his ear, " I must 
do the work of him that sent me — necessity is laid upon me — 
wo is me if I do it not." % * # # # 

Ask our modern apostle, Coke. * * * " I must therefore 
do the work of him that sent me." 

I take it for granted that you have all the power to bless 
on this day ! I cannot enlarge on the various powers ; tut 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 153 

you have all at least one talent. Where is the being who has 
not the widow's mite ? But some of you have five, others 
ten talents. God has distributed in a diversity of ways: 
lie has intrusted some with more than others.; prove your- 
selves not unworthy the confidence of Heaven. 

But the power to bless does not necessarily imply those 
qualities which alone can ensure its beneficial operation. 
Power is often prostituted. To make it an actual blessing 
there must be connected with it, 

1. A vital principle of religion in the heart All the 
blessings of life are so many poisonous ingredients in our 
cup until religion purifies them, and destroys those noxious 
qualities with which depravity has tainted them. * * 

2. A uniform consistency of character. By religion we 
'govern ourselves, but by consistent example we control 
others. It silences the clamours of the depraved against us, 
and calls forth all the energies of the virtuous to our sup- 
port. Thus it spikes the cannon of the enemy while it in- 
creases our own resources. Take this away, and all our 
professions of philanthropy will only bring us into contempt. 
We shall be found beginning works of mercy to-day, ceas- 
ing to-morrow. A man possessing the 'power and the con- 
sistency of character, lays down all at the feet of his Mas- 
ter. Does he speak to others ? He appears like an angel 
pleading the cause of Heaven ; his credentials, his life, are 
read of all men. See Job : " When I went out to the gate 
through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street ; 
the young men saw rne, and hid themselves : and the aged 
arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talking, and 
laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, 
and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. When 
the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye saw 
me, it gave witness to me : because I delivered the poor that 
cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me : 
and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on 
righteousness, and it clothed me : my judgment was as a 

U 



154 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 

robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was 
I to the lame. I was a father to the poor : and the cause 
which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of 
the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth." Thus 
example, associated with a -power to bless, is like the sun 
which makes no noise, yet moves, and everywhere leaves the 
effect of his beams. 

3. A disposition to improve every opportunity of doing 
good. Many pious and virtuous persons suffer the most fa- 
vourable seasons to pass by. They relieve the clamorous 
while they neglect the more important, not considering that 
only the inferior evils of mankind are loud and complaining, 
and that the more desperate, though of a moral and spiritual 
nature, are accompanied with an awful stillness which re- 
sembles that which reigns in the habitations of the dead. 
These should be sought out. In some, they are hindered by 
a constitutional, sluggish apathy ; in others, the slaves of a 
natural timidity ; in some, a latent love of money ; they 
would gladly retire from the field of benevolence did not a 
faithful monitor warn them that stewards must be found 
faithful ; and yet, though they retire not from the field alto- 
gether, they manifest, by the paltry trifle they give to God, 
that, if they love him, they love their mammon better. 

Now what remains but actually to put forth our benevo- 
lent efforts, not on behalf of an hospital, but on behalf of an 
association which removes the film from the intellectual eye ? 

Remove the barriers of Sunday-schools. * * * Augean 
Stables. * * * * * * 

What is the argument to urge to this ? 

III. The time of doing this, " To-day ;" and the reason 
of immediate attention : "Because the night cometh, where- 
in no man can work." 

No argument is so powerful as that drawn from our weigh- 
ing time with eternity. It is the best balance for the me- 
ting out our actions that heaven could have provided for us. 
But it is generally the evil of the world that this balance is 
seldom used in weighing our own individual interests. Oc- 
cupied with the things that are seen, we put off those which 
are unseen. Unbelief, which shuts the heart, is at the core 
of all this ! 



THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 155 

Jesus ever kept up a view of the joy set before him. 
Paul walked in the same path ; he counted not his " life dear 
unto himself, that he might finish his course with joy." 
And shall the same argument be lost upon us ? Shall we 
walk and act as if only inhabitants of time ? The thought 
is awful that there is no action of our lives which shall ter- 
minate in its consequences with this scene ; that every action 
of man has a reference to eternity ! and, as such, will be 
weighed by God. If I could drop the dimming veil to- 
night, and let you into the vision of eternity, I would ask the 
glorified throng in what light they considered the value of 
the things of time compared with the glories of eternity. 
And what would be the reply ? With one heart and one 
voice they would exclaim, they are not to be compared ! If 
I should then bring you down from this mount of transfig- 
uration, would you be found delighting in the wedge of gold 
or preferring the diadem of a Caesar to that which fadeth 
not away ? No ! you would lightly esteem all the treasures 
of Egypt ; you had seen in the light of God, and you found 
it good, truly good to be there, and there only ! 

But though I have not such a power, yet I can direct you 
how to anticipate such an enjoyment. The telescope of 
faith is given to man, and by it he can pierce into the invis- 
ible world ! it is evidence of things unseen ; you can only 
see this through this glass darkly, I admit it, but you could 
not endure a stronger glare. Faith softens the refulgence 
and makes it discoverable by man ; it enables him to see the 
glory at such a distance that we can look with eagle eye at 
this dim vision of eternal day ! Oh ! that we were wise ! 

Then, before the day of life closes, do the work of God — 
now, to-day ; the night of death is coming ; the curtain shall 
soon drop and be gently closed around the last sleep of your 
human existence, and "there is no device in the grave whither 
we are hastening; the night cometh, when no man can work." 
It is all our lot ; we cannot hide the mortifying truth ; the 
landscape which now delights us shall soon delight us no 
more ! I have beautified my house, but I know not for whom. 
I have amassed treasure, but I know not who shall enjoy it ; 



156 THE DUTIES OF THE DAY PERFORMED IN THE DAY. 

the bed in which I shall soon repose my wearied body, and 
enjoy the sleep of nature, shall ere long be chilled with the 
damps of death. May I therefore ever intwine the motto 
to Timothy round my heart : "I must do the work of an 
evangelist;" and may you grave beneath your escutcheons 
this night the motto of my text : "I must do the work of 
him that sent me, while it is day ; the night cometh, when 
no man can work." 

But, besides this consideration, let me add another. 
There is not only an hereafter state generally, but that state 
is a state of retribution, of reward, and the man who has his 
eye on this recompense despises all the treasures of Egypt. 
It is said of Christ, that for the joy set before him he en- 
dured the cross : Paul saw the glory which should be re- 
vealed in him in such a point of view that he says, " Neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my 
course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of 
the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God." 
And do not all who tread in their steps have the same feel- 
ing ? Ask the modern apostle of the Indies what induced 
him to quit his native shores the nineteenth time, never more 
to return ? What induced him to brave the boisterous ocean 
and ride o'er the caverns of the deep ? The breeze itself 
will answer ; listen to the murmurs of the gentle gale : "I 
must do the work of him that sent me, while it is day." 

I shall only add another consideration, and with it I will 
close. Look beyond the grave ! How shall the saint made 
ripe here for eternity be attended through the portals of Par- 
adise ? Hear what the Spirit saith : " His works do follow 
him." It is a glorious thought ! I use it not to excite your 
charity ; God himself uses it, and he would not offer us any 
consideration which is not founded on Eternal Truth ! 
" His works do follow him !" and by his works, as the evi- 
dence of his faith, he shall be justified or condemned. Will 
you, then, be satisfied to enter the royal palace of the King 
of Glory — now your own possession as sons of God — with 
so meager a train as that which I fear will deck too many 
who expect to be welcomed there ? Or, rather, will you 
not enter it in such a manner as will not cause you to be 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 157 

ashamed when presenting the account of your stewardship ? 
" Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents ; behold, I have 
gained two other talents." — " Lord, I have had five com- 
mitted to my care, and behold I have gained other five." 
Oh ! then, scatter your seed with a bountiful hand this even- 
ing ! You may not here see the full extent of the crop, 
but hereafter, when all shall be separated, the full extent of 
the fruits of your individual offering will then appear. Scat- 
ter the seed abroad ; leave the gathering of the fruit to G od : 
if you expect a plentiful harvest, sow plentifully ; and you 
shall not only say, " Lord, here am I and the children thou 
hast given me," but you will be constrained to inquire, 
" Who are these others following hard after ? and this 
third band likewise?" " The children which God has gra- 
ciously given to his servant," is the answer from winged 
seraphs. " Thou hast been faithful over a few things, and 
God has made thee ruler over many things ; thy one talent 
has produced ten: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
Then will you shine as stars, nay, as suns, in the firmament 
of your Father, forever and ever ! Amen ! 



SERMON XXII. 

THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 
A MISSIONARY SERMON. 

Habakkuk, ii., 14. — For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory o 
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 

If we seek at all times to trace the Providences of God, 
we shall often find that he makes his throne darkness to us ; 
and from the thick darkness we hear a voice saying, " What 
I do, thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereaf- 
ter." But in tracing the operations of the word of his grace 
and the state of his church we find this clearly made known. 
# * % The eternal fiat has gone forth : " For the earth shall 
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea." 
14 



15S THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 

I. Consider the subject matter of this prophecy. 
II. What is said concerning it. 
III. Offer a few remarks to confirm the declaration. 

I. Consider the subject matter of this prophecy. 

The " glory of the Lord" has various meanings. A grand 
display of this was made when Moses and Aaron and the 
seventy elders were called up into the mount. There they 
beheld his glory ! It was as a pavement of fire of the col- 
our of a sapphire, and as the heavens for brightness ! — 

Any particular visible display of his presence was his glo- 
ry ! for God can display himself in no other way than a glo- 
rious one. Hence, when in the wilderness he fed them with 
manna, and appeared in a cloud, this was his glory ! Again, 
when he led them on in their journeyings by the pillar of 
fire and cloud, he was in the pillar, and it was " the glory 
of the Lord !" In aftertimes it was applied to the display 
made of his glory between the wings of the cherubim, and 
even to the ark of the covenant afterward deposited in the 
holy place. When this was taken by the Philistines it was 
a disastrous day ; old Eli died ; his daughter was brought 
to a premature birth ; and when in the agonies of dissolu- 
tion, having heard that he was a son, " call his name Icha- 
bod," the glory of the Lord is departed. 

But the term has also reference to the Gospel, and St. 
Paul proves that this was eminently the glory of the Lord ! 
There was a glory attending the law, but this was much 
more glorious.* The law was the ministration of death, the 
Gospel of life. The law denounces the requirements of 
God without any hope to the sinner, the Gospel proclaims 
pardon. The law leaves us in our lost estate, but the Gos- 
pel is the word of salvation ! It is more glorious than the 
law in its author, his person, and his work. 

1. His person was glorious ; a better tabernacle than 
Moses's— made by God himself— human in materials, but 
Divine in workmanship : even the humanity was built by 
God ! A better glory rested on this tabernacle than Mo- 
ses's ) sometimes this glory darted through the veil of his 

* See Benson.. 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 159 

lesh, and made his appearance white and glistering. And 
then they " beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten 

}f the Father ;" yea, in him dwelt all the fulness of the* 
Godhead bodily. 

2. In his work. He comes not to condemn, but to save*, 
and herein is God glorified in the salvation of men. * * 

^ ^F vP w r?F ^ 

But the Gospel is peculiarly glorious above the law, 

1. In its extent. If we look at former times, we might 
perhaps think that God had selected a few — originally one 
family of man — -as his peculiar treasure ; but now we find 
this was only that the coming of the Messiah might be more 
clearly marked. When that purpose was accomplished, and 
everything predicted concerning him by the prophets fulfill- 
ed, then the mystery which had been hidden from ages was 
made manifest, even that the Gentiles should be partakers 
of the same riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The veil of 
the Temple was rent from top to bottom, the holiest was laid 
open, and the cry went forth, " Whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life freely." He broke down the middle wall 
of partition between us, even to the foundation ; he razed 
it up as Jerusalem was razed, and left not one stone upon 
another ; he made a highway for all the kindreds of the 
earth : u And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw 
all men unto me." 

2. It represents the Divine attributes more gloriously than 
the law. There was indeed a great glory on the mountain 
when God made known his law. The mountain shook ! 
the people trembled ! God was terrible in his majesty ! 
The glory of his justice was great when the earth swallowed 
up Korah and his rebellious company. His hatred to sin 
was conspicuous in many such instances. But neither in the 
casting down of angels nor destruction of the world would 
his glory have been so marked as in the death of his own 
Son ! In that there is the richest display both of grace and 
justice ! 

" Here the whole Deity is known, 
Nor dares a creature guess 
Which of the glories brightest shone, 
The justice or the grace." 



160 THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSFELv 

From Calvary a greater glory beams forth than from Sinai J" 
his justice is attempered with mercy, and we can approach 
the foot of the cross with Mary and John without fearing the 
consuming fire ; nay, the nearer we arrive at the subject of 
this glory, the milder is its influence ! here God's glory is 
concentrated as in a focus.* 

3. It is more glorious than the law as life and immortality 
are more clearly revealed. * * * Jesus has drawn the veil 
aside : "I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth 
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whoso- 
ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." True, he 
laid down his life ! But he took it up again ! Man may lay 
his life down, and though he cannot revive himself, yet Je- 
sus has assured him that he shall be raised again at the 
last day ! 

" The knoivledge" &c. This word has also various mean- 
ings. Sometimes it means discrimination : " I know my 
sheep, and am known of mine," Publication : " I deter- 
mined not to knoio anything among you, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified." When applied by a believer, it is full 
assurance : " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he 
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : And though af- 
ter my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall 
I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
behold, and not another." Now the knowledge in our text 
implies, 1. Clearness ; 2. Impression ; 3. Performance ; and, 
4. Universal extent. 

1. Clearness. The glory of the Lord, as revealed m 
the Gospel, shall be clearly seen : it shall be so plain " that 
the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein." 
There is no veil upon it as on the face of Moses, but "with 
open face we behold the glory of the Lord !" True, there 
are some facts in it which are mysterious,, and these we are 
required to give credence to, as on the authority of God, 
Such is the doctrine of three persons in the Divine unity. 
We need not understand the mystery, but we must be- 
lieve it even as we believe the sea is deep, though we 
cannot fathom it ; that the heavens are high, though we 

* See Style*. 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 161 

cannot scale them ; that eternity is long, though we have 
no conception of it. But every truth necessary for man to 
know is clearly revealed. (Put a number of pointed ques- 
tions as to my relation to God, to Christ, to time, to eter- 
nity, to the judgment, &c.) Thus on the Gospel as our 
foundation we stand between both worlds, and call to you, 
ye sons of men ; we tell you there is a heaven, a hell, a 
judgment, and that all this is settled. "We can assure all this 
with certainty ; for it is clearly revealed. 

2. Impression. All the theoretical displays of the Gospel 
are of no avail without the impression of its truth. The de- 
sign of the Gospel is to change him who heartily believes it 
into its own nature. It is the glory of God, and it changes 
the soul from glory to glory, and makes it partaker of the 
Divine nature. It operates upon the heart. The glory of 
the Lord is removed from temples made with hands, and 
dwells in our hearts ! We have the enjoyment of present 
glory ; the truth is received and felt, and makes free ! 
" Christ in us ! the hope of future glory." 

3. Performance. But the tendency of all this is not to 
make Antinomians. Believe and obey the Gospel. The 
sinner believes ; the believer works ; he gives up every mem- 
ber to be an instrument of righteousness unto God, and 
does the work of him that sent him ! Indeed, like Philip, 
we shall say to others, " Come and see ;" we shall labour 
to bring many sons to glory. 

4. But this leads us to the universal tendency of this 
knowledge. Like leaven, it will work its way ; the time 
will come when thou wilt not " say unto thy neighbour, go, 
and come again, and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast 
it by thee." — But this is anticipating. We now consider, 

II. What is said concerning this glory. 
There is an ellipsis here ; the margin of some Bibles reads 
"the channels of the sea." 

1. Clearness. Now you know these channels are very 
deep : so is Divine science — not superficial : its doctrines 
are deep, and you must sound a long time to fathom them ; 
and often cry, " Oh ! the depth." 

2. Experience. But the waters do touch every surface 

X 



162 THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 

of land ; they wash every shore ; are felt by every land ! 
The glory of God shall be felt by every people ; it shall 
touch them, shall come into contact with them. 

3. Universal. But the channels are effectually covered ; 
so shall the world be filled ! It shall not distil, as on the 
camp of Israel, in tender dew ; nor rain, though the drops 
be like a thunder shower ; but it shall be poured forth ! 
The wilderness shall become a pool of water, and the des- 
ert be filled with springs ; it shall not be to the ankles, nor 
joints, nor loins, but shall cover the earth as the waters cover 
the great deep, and you may plunge in this godhead's deep- 
est sea, &c. Oh ! what a time when the glory of the Lord 
shall be in all lands ! Millennium ! In every clime, na- 
tion, tribe, family, house, heart! Lord, hasten it ! "The 
Lord's mountain shall be exalted above the hills, and peo- 
ple shall flow unto it." 

III. It were sufficient for us that the mouth of the Lord 
has spoken it. His word " has gone forth, and shall not re- 
turn to him until it has accomplished that where unto he sent 
it." But we may offer a few remarks in support of the 
prophet's declaration. 

1. God's covenant with Abraham ! This has not yet been 
accomplished : " All the families of the earth were to be 
blessed in him." We know that the Jews had contracted 
views of the earth, and they thought that their own land, with 
the immediately adjacent countries, comprised the whole of it. 
But God had no such limited idea ; he saw the end from 
the beginning ; his broad eye extended from shore to shore ; 
now this covenant must be fulfilled ; it was a covenant of 
salt, and cannot be broken. 

2. It was renewed to Isaac, Jacob, &c, but especially to 
Jesus Christ. He, as the Messiah, asked the heathen for his 
inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his pos- 
session, and they were given to him : yea, and he is able to 
save to the uttermost ! The heathen are now his ; virtually 
by his blood, effectually by his Spirit. God will never 
break his engagements with Jesus. 

3. It was the burden of all the prophecies ; labouring un- 
der the inspiration of God's Spirit, they declare, to a man. 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 163 

the universal spread of the Gospel. Read Isaiah : " For 
Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's 
sa?ke I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth 
as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burn- 
etii. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all 
kings thy glory." — See Joel on the last days. 

4. But see the commission of the apostles : " Go ye, there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Wher- 
ever you can find a son of Adam, preach the Gospel to 
him — to every creature. Do not confine yourself to Jeru- 
salem. " I have other sheep that are not of this fold ; them 
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there 
shall be one fold and one shepherd." Do not sit down; 
be itinerants. — Blessed itinerancy ! Primitive preaching ! 

5. But we may refer the accomplishment of this to the 
promised agency of the Holy Ghost. God's power has un- 
dertaken to accomplish it, and he will not fail. He under- 
took a greater work than this, even that mighty cause of 
which this is but the effect. Christ crucified was the wisdom 
of God ; it required infinite wisdom to accomplish redemp- 
tion ; and now that it is accomplished, Divine power is no 
longer under restraint ; it has rushed forth to save the world ! 

Finally : we argue it from the effects which have been pro- 
duced. You may say, the prophets are dead, and the apostles 
being dead, the commission has ceased. No ; " I am with 
you always, even to the end of the world." Though they are 
dead, the ministry is not dead ; there is yet a living ministry 
— there always has been one. See the effects it produced in 
the first ages, when thousands were pricked to the heart. 
True, it was nearly extinct in the dark ages of Popery ; the 
holy fire was as a spark buried in the ashes ; but it was alive ! 
It was revived at the Reformation — Luther abroad, WicklifFe 
at home ; and, in these later days, Wesley and Whitfield ; and 
now behold what has been accomplished ! How often have 
vie seen the Spirit poured forth in this section and in the 
other ; and what are all these but the earnest of that univer- 
sal outpouring which the prophets foretell ? See how great a 
flame aspires ! Now, when we look at these six things, who 



164 THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL. 

can doubt for a moment that God will accomplish the proph- 
ecy ? he is able, he is willing, doubt no more. 
Application. 

1. " What have you to do with all this ?" Why, you are 
interested in it individually. I ask you one question, and 
the answer will solve both. Why are you so zealous in in- 
viting your neighbours to the ordinances, in contributing to 
Bible Societies and Sunday-schools ? why so transported 
with missionary intelligence ? You are individually inter- 
ested in it ! Why have you never grown weary in well- 
doing ? for the same reason : you share in the glory ! 

2. See what God expects from us ; that we lay our shoul- 
ders to the work ; he works by means — increase your gifts. 
Well, says one, I will distribute more tracts this year than 
ever I have done before. I will double my subscription to 
the Bible Society ; I will pray more than ever I have done ; 
I will instruct my children more than ever in the fear of the 
Lord ; and as to the perishing heathen, and the missiona- 
ries, I will give — what will you give ? you pause and ask 
me, "What shall I give?" I tell you the rule of giving 
which the Almighty has ; he gives according to our need, 
and the riches of his glory. Now, " be ye followers of 
God as dear children." But while I speak the ardour is 
restrained ; I feel you are warm in the work ; I have felt 
the effect of your warmth. My tongue cleaves to the roof 
of mj mouth. Now bestow, &c, &c. 



165 



SERMON XXIII. 



Isaiah, vi., 1-8. — In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting 
upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 

Above it stood the seraphims : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered 
his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts : the 
whole earth is full of his glory. 

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was 
filled with smoke. 

Then said I, Wo is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, 
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the 
King, the Lord of hosts. 

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which ho 
had taken with the tongs from off the altar : 

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips : and thine 
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go 
for us 1 Then said I, Here am I ; send me. 

" No man hath seen God at any time ; he is the King 
eternal, immortal, and invisible ;" yet he has made mani- 
festations of his being and attributes to our senses and under- 
standings. " The heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
firmament showeth forth his handiwork." They declare his 
daily Providence in governing the world : " Day unto day 
uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." 

But from the Scriptures we know that in the upper world 
there are manifestations far more glorious — a visible and 
sensible presence of the glory of God in heaven ! The light 
inaccessible in which he dwells, &c. — this was in part the 
glory which Jesus had, and of which he emptied himself, 
and into which he entered again. That glory is the fount- 
ain of light ! the place of heavenly rest. Saints and angels 
are there — about it they ever dwell, and so " are ever with 
the Lord !." and engaged in the services attributed to the 
seraphim in the words of the text. 

The tabernacle and the temple were types or patterns of 
the heavenly world. They " serve unto the example and 
shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of 



166 isaiah's vision. 

God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See., 
saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern 
showed to thee in the mount." But why that strange fact 
that God should dwell with man upon the earth ? visible in 
an earthly house ? The reason was, that heaven set up its 
pattern on earth to teach what the God of heaven is, how 
God is to be approached, and what man should be in his 
presence. 

Hence, when Isaiah was appointed anew to his office, 
scenes of majesty and glory were placed before him ! — The 
scene of the text is not laid in the temple, though a temple 
scene. A place larger and more spacious was painted on 
his imagination. The throne in this is high and lifted up ; 
the train fills every part ; the cherubim here start into life ; 
they are no more silently gazing on the great revelation of 
God — all life, all ardour, all love ! 

At the discovery of this, and specially at the declaration 
of God's holiness, Isaiah cries, " Wo is me" — he is abased ! 
— but a seraph touches his lips, and he is purified ; human 
lips are then allowed to join with angelic, and the purified 
prophet is put among the servants of God ! 

But what does this subject teach us? To join the sera- 
phim in our worship ; to consider the character of Him to 
whom we draw near ; not to come and gaze upon a crea- 
ture of our imagination, but to approach with reverence and 
Godly fear. (See the text.) " Draw near and see this 
great sight — Put off thy shoes, for the place is holy." 

I. The first view of the Divine glory in the text is that of 
rule and dominion: " A throne, high and lifted up" — the 
Lord is King — this is the first character under which to ap- 
proach whenever we engage in worship. 

Mark the fact and the circumstances. 

First. The fact. Sits on his throne, not like heathen 
gods, shut up as though he saw not — he always rules in the 
universe he has made. Natural things under natural law, 
moral under moral. 

In the material world upholdeth all things by the word 
of his power, and ruleth even over his enemies ; calleth the 
stars by name, regulates the seasons, feeds all, shuts up the 
sea, worketh all and in all. 



167 

Moral beings under moral law — made and governs re- 
directs what to do and shun — holds accountable for obedi- 
ence or disobedience— his object is to bless, but, if disobe- 
dient, as a sovereign he must punish ; and not only individ- 
uals, but nations also, raising one and putting down another. 

Remember, then, everything is under law : he must be 
obeyed ; the happiness of the universe consists in subjection 
to his will. 

Secondly. The circumstances of this fact — not only on a 
throne, but, 

1. Sitting — maintaining his attitude of majesty, while ev- 
ery being bows in lowly reverence or falls prostrate. It also 
represents security and repose. He is the same, though all 
things change ; his kingdom endureth forever. Like a rock 
in the ocean, ripples of individuals or billows of nations 
move not him. It marks the perfect security of his govern- 
ment amid all opposition : " The Lord reigneth" — " Why do 
the heathen rage ?" — vain is it to take counsel together 
against him. 

2. It is high and lifted up, exalted above all power and 
authority in earth or heaven- — all bow — principalities and 
powers. 

3. The place of this throne. Not amid the withered scenes 
of Paradise, blasted by the curse : not on the rock of Oreb, 
amid lightnings and thunderings ; not on the sinless ruins of 
a smoking world, when resurrection, &c. — but it is seen in 
his temple, in the house of grace and mercy, in connexion 
with an altar of sacrifice and sprinkled blood — 'tis so now 
here — let us draw near this throne of grace, &c. 

II. The second view of the majesty and glory of God is, 
that in his nature and perfection he is incomprehensible. 
This is shown in a striking manner, and intended to repress 
the pride of man. " Canst thou by searching find out 
God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" 
His train filled the temple. But is there nothing in this tem- 
ple but glory ? Read on — it is also with smoke : he mingled 
these in the pillar, &c. — in the Temple of Solomon. What 
means this ? — we cannot by searching find out God — that 
mystery and darkness is enveloped in all ! " Verily, thou 



I'68 ISAIAH S VISION. 

art a God that hidest thyself." "Witness Moses's petition: 
" Show me thy glory ;" did he behold it all ? " No man 
ean see me, and live." He saw the last evening ray — the 
tempered ray of glory, but not his face! Ask the prophets 
in succession, and you find them searching and inquiring 
still what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in 
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings 
of Christ and the glory that should follow. Ask Paul, that 
wondrous man! "Now we see through a glass darkly." 
After an immense reach into the Divine design he stops 
short : " Oh ! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, 
and his ways past finding out !" Go to the seraphim ; even 
they, long as they have continued searching ! — in vain ! if 
so, why gaze they still ? Why veil their faces ? There is a 
majesty overpowering them ! * * * * 

What learn we from this ? What the lesson ? Be hum- 
ble and be wise ! no other way to know him ! — do not try 
at the bar of human speculation. Know God only as he has 
revealed himself ; receive his testimony : 

" Dark with excessive bright his skirts appear ; 
So that exalted seraphims approach not, till, 
With outstretched wings, they cover both their eyes." 

III. The third view of the Divine Majesty is holiness! 
" Above the throne the seraphim." — The holiness of God is 
a perfection most eminent ; it is specially celebrated by an- 
gels, and full of instruction to mortals. 

How conceive we of the Divine Holiness ? 

1. Represented under his expressive name, " Holy One of 
Israel ;" thrice holy — the triune God — all equally holy. No 
imagination — for read on — " Whom shall I send," &c, was 
heard out of the throne. — We are informed, " He is of purer 
eyes than to behold iniquity." 

2. By his acts as well as titles. Look at creation ; every- 
thing holy is Godlike. When he made us, he fitted us for 
holiness. Look at his law : "The law is holy, and the 
commandment holy, and just, and good." Look at the 
Gospel: its author "did no sin, neither was guile found in 
his mouth." The Gospel stamps its character of holiness 



isaiaii s vision. 169 

clear as the law by writing, " Without holiness no man shall 
see the Lord." Look at the judgments of God as manifes- 
tations of his holiness. His anger against sin burns to the 
lowest hell. * * * Look, again, at the delight he has in the 
holy man ; so as to confer eternal life on all such. Still a 
resplendent glory beyond all this ! a depth beyond fathom ; 
a brightness on which we cannot gaze. He charges his an- 
gels with folly : how much more those that dwell in houses 
of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed 
before the moth ! O ! recollect that God is holy above all 
our views ; hates its opposite — even the heavens are not 
pure. 

IV. The fourth view is that of a penitent, abased man 
sinking before this overpowering manifestation. " One cried 
unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of 
Hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts 
of the door moved at the voice of him that cried." Every- 
thing on earth at least should tremble. — " Wo is me /" I am 
dumb ! " I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, 
but now mine eye seeth thee ; therefore I abhor myself, and 
repent in dust and ashes." I am dumb as a criminal — like 
the man without the wedding garment — speechless. 

Behold, then, the sentiments which become us : we are 
unclean ! Need I remind you of the circumstances which 
prove this ? the sins of your thoughts, imaginations, tem- 
pers ! — pride, anger, malice, uncharitableness ! living in 
utter neglect of God ; insensible of the love of Christ your 
Saviour ; resisting the Holy Ghost ! religious services bar- 
ren, trifling, formal ; and, among the greatest, the sins of the 
sanctuary ! through life an innumerable multitude ! We 
are capable of sinning or doing good every moment ; every 
thought has the assent of the will — the sins of a day can- 
not be numbered — more than the hairs! — We can only 
remember a few prominent ones when we confess — but God 
registers them all ! What a load of guilt, then, on every 
man ! We would fain make his law less holy ! — this is the 
case of all. 

What then ? need I tell you ? " Cursed is every one that 
continueth not in all things which are written in the book 
15 Y 



170 ISAIAHS VISION. 

of the law, to do them." The Gospel is against you as well 
as the law. " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 
" Without are the dogs:" ivithoui — disowned of God — not 
within the gates of glory. God is against you also ; sinners 
cannot dwell in his sight. He is here ! and he joins himself 
with all who resemble him, and are sprinkled by his blood, 
but he has passed you by. You are unholy, and you know 
it not. 

Wo ! wo ! I trust you are now saying, M Behold, I am 
vile ! I feel it is just I must perish. I am not barely con- 
vinced of the fact of being a sinner, but I am dumb ! I feel 
it is right I should perish ; right that a holy God should re- 
ject unholy man. I have trampled under foot the blood of 
Jesus, and deserve hell fire!" Is this hard ? If you think 
so, you are not in the prophet's state ; and you will carry the 
wo away with you. Yet you need not ; but, unless you 
give up this excusing — palliating, this wo will follow you : 
it will go with you to your business, your sickness, your 
resurrection — when you awake to see this holy God ! 

V. The fifth view we have is that of this humble, silen- 
ced man obtaining mercy ! " Lo ! one of the seraphim flew 
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken 
with the tongs from off the altar : and he laid it upon my 
mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips : and thine 
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." We have, then, 
the fact before us that a guilty man may be forgiven, pur- 
ged, approach God, and join the seraphim. 

It is not peculiar to the prophet ; pardon is offered to u& 
— but, if we only knew the fact without the method, it would 
be useless. We know the meaning of these symbols. The 
prophet saw an altar in the throne. What means this but 
that a sacrifice was there, something to interpose ? — and there 
was fire ; not common, but the holy fire from heaven. We 
know the altar ; the sacrifice is Jesus ; the purifying fire is- 
the baptismal fire of the Holy Spirit which fell at Pente- 
cost. 

Now God wills not that we should take this wo away 
# # # if deeply humbled.— O thou abased one, what af- 
frights thee ? Is it the throne, the fiery train, the seraphs' 



THE MINISTER'S REQUEST. 171 

cry ? But there is another object in the temple — look — turn 
your eye to the altar on Calvary! " My God! my God! 
why hast thou forsaken me ?" Why is this ? He bore thy 
sins in his own body on the tree. Nor is the Spirit reluc- 
tant to bless ; he is the fruit of the Saviour's passion. If 
you cast your whole self on that passion, that Spirit shall be 
sent. God offers you now this purifying grace. Ask— wait 
on God in all the earnestness of believing prayer. 

Then God shall put you among his servants — the messen- 
gers of God — thus we may go with seraphs, and gaze on the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

But remember, like the cherubim, we adore as well as 
gaze : pardon gives no lightness nor trifling. Nothing ex- 
cludes boasting and keeps humble like recollecting that we 
deserved eternal death. 

Remember, also, that with twain they did fly — always on 
their Master's service — be on the wing. 

Then mark a higher result : changed from glory to glory, 
and prepared for the temple above ! " Behold, the taber- 
nacle of God is with men, and he will dwell among them, 
and he will be their God, and they shall be his people." 



SERMON XXIV. 

THE MINISTER'S REQUEST. 

1 Thessalonians, v., 25. — Brethren, pray for us. 

No mark is more distinctive of the new birth than prayer ; 
it is the breath of the soul ; God has breathed again the 
breath of lives, and he is become a living soul — Christ 
dwells in him — he prays without ceasing. 

Now, as this is the inspiration of God, it partakes of his 
own nature ; he willeth all men to be saved. Prayer as- 
sumes this distinctive mark, our Father — Father of the spir- 
its of all flesh : 



172 the minister's request. 

" The arms of love that compass me 

"Would all mankind embrace." 
" for a trumpet voice 

On all the world to call.'* 
"If all the world my Jesus knew, 

Then all the world would love him too." 
" Come, all the world, come, sinner thou, 

All things in Christ are ready now." 

Faith is personal — it is Abba, my Father. 

In conformity with this view of prayer Paul says, " I will 
that prayer be made for all men ;" after the example of him 
who is kind to the unthankful. Thus do good to all men ; 
but " especially unto them who are of the household of faith." 
" Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; they shall prosper that 
love thee." St. Paul was very feelingly alive to the neces- 
sity of the prayers of the faithful. Though he could give 
thanks to the Father who comforted him, yet, amid all this 
support, he confesses his need of their prayers. If this were 
his feeling, how much more ours ! 

I. Explain the exhortation. 
II. Enforce it. 

It implies that the church doe3 not in general pray for its 
ministers. How true is this ! I appeal to your hearts ; is 
it done in your social circle, at the family altar, &c. ? How 
often have we been in houses where prayers for all men have 
been made, but none for the minister. You say some do 
not need it ; some do not deserve it ; you complain that it 
was a bad sermon. — Did you pray ? O ! let this duty be 
attended to. ^r 

And what will you ask of God for us ? Is it that we may 
be popular, and be able to please the world ? No ! what- 
ever others do, I would entreat of you to ask that of God 
for which I myself have supplicated his throne with many 
prayers and tears, night and day. — " And Solomon said, 
Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great 
mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in 
righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee ; and 
thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast 



THE MINISTER'S REQUEST. lY3 

given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And 
now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king in- 
stead of David my father : and I am but a little child : I 
know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is^in 
the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great peo- 
ple, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge 
thy people, that I may discern between good and bad : for 
who is able to judge this thy so great a people ? And the 
speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, 
and hast not asked for thyself long life ; neither hast asked 
riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies ; 
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judg- 
ment ; behold, I have done according to thy words : lo, I 
have given thee a wise and an understanding heart." Wis- 
dom * * # * Pray that your ministers may have 
this wisdom, this soundness of mind, sound speech, &c. 

1. That they may be sound in doctrine. That the Lamb 
would open the seals of the book, and anoint their eyes with 
eye-salve, that they may have clear understanding of the 
mysteries of the Gospel, and be able to bring forth things 
new and old. — The disciples at Emmaus. — 

2. In experience. That in all these doctrines which they 
impress on you they may be able to say, " We are witnesses 
of these things :" u That which we have seen and heard, and 
our hands have handled, and our hearts have felt, of the 
word of life, declare we unto you." It is miserable work to 
preach without feeling. 

3. In practice. That our motto may ever be, " Be ye fol- 
lowers of me, even as I also am of Christ;" that our zeal 
may be conspicuous ; and, if called to suffer, our patience, 
&c. * * * Again — 

1. Pray that no entanglement of the fear of man may 
cleave to the discourses of your ministers, but that they may 
speak boldly as they ought to speak ; that an effectual door 
of utterance may be opened, and that, with the meekness of 
the Lamb of God, they may connect the force of the lion of 
the tribe of Judah ! That their faces may be set as brass 



174 THE MINISTER S REQUEST. 

against the enemies of the Lord ; that it may be said of 
them, as of their Master, they are no respecters of persons, 
nor care for the person of any man, &c. 

.2. That the word of the Lord may run. That sinners 
may be saved. — This is the end of all our preaching — that 
the cross may be exalted, and that all men may flock to it. 

3. That the crafts of Satan may never so beguile, either 
through the allurements of the world, or any other means, as 
to cause a falling away. — That they may attain to the end 
of their faith, the salvation of their own souls. 

" A charge to keep I have" as well as you ; that, after 
having preached to you, we may not ourselves be castaways. 

II. I will not urge the command. I will not say it 
is your duty ; the love of Christ constraineth us ; and we 
will urge this love to constrain you. 

1. We are men of like passions with you ; ministers are 
not angels. We are liable to be tempted. Liable ? Nay, 
we have temptations with which perhaps you are never as- 
sailed ; St. Paul accounted his chiefest trial " the care of all 
the churches." Learn what that care is, " that we may pre- 
sent every man perfect in Christ Jesus ;" " Of them whom 
thou hast given me in charge have I lost none." — O! the 
anxiety of a minister of Christ; how jealous lest one spot- 
less garment should become defiled, and unfit for the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb. * * Love to us. 

2. Satan will level his artillery chiefly at the standard- 
bearers ; he knows they seldom fall alone. — If he can de- 
stroy the leaders, he knows that he can get some of the 
flock ; there are always some lame in the flock, and these, 
he knows, will >. be turned out of the way. He knows that, 
if he can cut the larger branches, the twigs will fall with 
them. O ! then, as you love the brethren, pray for us ; for 
their sakes hold us up at a throne of grace, that Satan get 
not an advantage over us. * # Love to others. 

3. But suppose we are unworthy of your prayers, yet for 
your own souls'' sake remember us : " When ye enter into a 
house, say, Peace be to this house." If we are not worthy, 
yet you shall receive a reward, even the good things im- 
plored for us ; God will answer them to you one way or oth- 
er. Abraham prayed for Sodom. ##'•#* 



THE MINISTER'S REQUEST. 175 

***** Love to yourselves, 

4. But, above all, pray for us as you love the Head of the 
church. * * * * Love to God. 

What is the end we have in view ? If we attain the graces 
mentioned, if the door of utterance be opened — does the 
matter rest here ? Nay ; but that the word of the Lord may 
be glorified, or God glorified in and by his word ! He is 
glorified when all his attributes are set forth as harmonizing 
in the economy of man's salvation — the everlasting Gospel ! 
He is glorified in the change made in the hearts and lives 
of multitudes of sinners ; " a new song is put into their 
mouth, even praise to God" He is glorified in saving mill- 
ions of souls from everlasting burnings ; and these ransomed 
ones shall swell his glories in the world to come. — Pray that 
our crowns of glory may be worth casting at the feet of Je- 
sus. He is glorified. * * * * 

Application. — Brethren ! many probably in this congre- 
gation will feel no interest in our situation. " What is that 
to us ?" say they. Coming to hear preaching is with them 
a matter of course ; time would otherwise hang heavily. In 
all the anxieties of the preacher they have no sympathies ! 
If he pipe, they dance not ; if he mourn, they weep not. — 
To whom then shall we turn ? " Brethren? 1 pray for us ! 
We cast ourselves at your feet ! your servants we are, for 
Jesus' sake ! 

But if, after all, no man should stand by us, the Lord will 
help us himself. We shall yet be " unto God a sweet savour 
of Christ in them that are saved, and also in them that per- 
ish. To the one a savour of life unto life, and to the other a 
savour of death unto death." God will be glorified by us 
in one way or other. If we are doomed to say, " All day 
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and 
gainsaying people," yet our labour is with the righteous 
Judge ! 

But, beloved, we hope better things of you, though we 
thus speak ; I say not these things to condemn you, but, as 
my beloved brethren, I warn you. I have confidence in you 
in all things. We will remember you without ceasing, &c. — ■ 
Brethren, pray for us ! 



176 THE DIVINE REQUISITION. 



SERMON XXV. 

THE DIVINJE REQUISITION. 
Proverbs, xxiii., 26. — My son, givs me thine heart. 

By the heart is not meant that of flesh and blood, but the 
immortal and thinking part — seat of the understanding, will, 
and affections. God claims it — has a right to it, and he 
only — we have a right to love all, but not give the heart to- 
any ; he will receive nothing in place of it — despises alL — 

Consider God as speaking to each and all. 

I. Explain the text. 
II. Enforce it. 

I. Explain. 

1. Our text supposes that men do not naturally give theii 
hearts to God. How true ! look around, and at ourselves, 
and say whether it is even easy ; they give their hearts to 
everything else. — We scarce wonder at a parent loving an 
only child, while so many give their hearts to dogs, wealthy 

Arp % % w "%• * ^F 

2. Our text supposes, again, that God will not force us to 
comply with the demand. Though he uses many means — 
knocks at the door — often loud — many years — conviction 
flashes in so that the sinner cannot but see his sinfulness * 7 
yet no irresistible force is used. He calls upon us to pre- 
sent a sacrifice, living, holy, acceptable. — If any have been 
waiting the day of God's power, take care you do not lose 
your soul ; you should have given it long since ; give it 
now ; it is not given without an effort, though no effort is ef- 
fectual without grace. But what is it to give the heart ? 

Much more than a respectable profession — the foolish vir- 
gins do not seem to have known that they were fools — no 
difference apparently — but they took no oil. — Great need of 
caution in these times not to rest in mere profession. But 
to give the heart implies* 



THE DIVINE REQUISITION. 177 

First. That we heartily renounce all that God has for- 
bidden. Many, like Herod, renounce all but one ; perhaps 
it is a popular sin, common to many of the worshippers ; but 
you cannot retain it if you give God the heart. But renounce 
heartily — some renounce for a season, and then return — Pha- 
raoh — many alarmed by hell — religion often begins here, 
but dangerous to rest here — but the fear subsides, and as the 
man never, in heart, left Egypt, he is ready to listen to the 
tempter. * * # He yields to one sin, resolving to do it no 
more ; but he repeats it, and falls back : we must hate all 
sin ; if we regard it at any future time the heart is taken 
back. 

Secondly. To give up the heart implies a hearty belief 
for the fulfilment of all the promises. No promises to un- 
awakened sinners — the threatenings all theirs — but, when 
turned. to God, all the great and precious promises — Prom- 
ises to forgive, cleanse, teach, guide, help — of food, raiment, 
& c . #.##!£ W e doubt whether he is true in these prom- 
ises we do not give the heart. If the heart be given without 
trimming it will receive all his promises. 

Thirdly. It implies that we seek and cleave to him con- 
stantly as our portion : happy is he who can say, " The 
Lord is my portion ;" let him give or take, only give me 
himself. A satisfying portion — heirs of God — more than 
heaven — "Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is 
none upon earth that I desire beside thee." A prison is a 
palace — December as May — storm as calm — affliction as 
health — death as life — yea, then most of all when the world 
recedes — and I enter immediately to God ! 

II. What are the motives which should induce us to give 
God our hearts ? 

1. It is just and right — you wish to be thought honest ; 
but, if you have not given your heart to God, I deny your 
claim to honesty — a superior commits to your trust a great 
and valuable estate, &c. On what part does God most set 
his love ? Is it on the earth ? true, he has enriched its bow- 
els and adorned its surface ; but this will be burned up. Is 
it the sun ? true, he has clothed with splendour the most glo- 
rious work visible ; but he will put it out and trample on the 

Z 



178 THE DIVINE REQUISITION. 

stars — " all souls are mine." What has he done for these ? 
What has he given for these ? — immortal as himself. For 
them " He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 
for us all," &c. Now he calls for this soul, this heart, this 
spirit. Will you keep back what he values so much ? He 
did not keep back his own Son, and will you keep back, 
&c. — " But what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul." #•■•*.'■•'• 

2. Our interest requires it. Our souls are diseased, blind, 
denied, miserable. God alone can heal, cleanse, and make 
happy : he only who caused the light to shine can remove 
our blindness ; he only takes away the stony heart, the leop- 
ard's spots ; but he will make us wise and holy, and fill us 
with his love : none but he can do this. See the immortal 
mind eager after something — it is happiness ; many seek it 
elsewhere ; but give the heart to God, and he will nit it with 
all his fulness. — Give it to God, and you are at rest. 

The keeping of your hearts is important; true, we are com- 
manded to keep them ; but how so well as by giving them 
to God ? He will be a wall of fire — we have many ene- 
mies — but he will keep every moment. " I go to him, and 
he keeps me," said George Pearson of Macclesfield — " kept 
by the power of God." — Peter — See Job's case : " Hast 
thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him 
in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth 
God and escheweth evil?" but what did Satan say ? "I 
could not get at him ; I cannot break through nor get over 
the hedge: take it away, and then see what I will do." — 
He not only charges his angels for them, but he himself be- 
comes their guard. * * * * * 

How kind it is in God to seek our hearts — sinful, ungrate- 
ful beings. Does he need us ? Is not he blessed though 
we should be cursed ? But he is love, and so much so as 
now to seek our hearts. 

Now what answer will you give my Lord to the text ? 

1. Oh ! say some, I gave it long since. I am only sorry I 
did not give it before, and sorry I have so often backslidden 
in heart ; but to whom shall I go ? * * * 



THE DIVINE REQUISITION. 179 

2. Yes, says another, I desire and endeavour to do it ; but 
what a struggle for life ! Do not despair ; lift it up as thou 
art able, and " if darkness endure for a night, joy shall come 
in the morning ;" the Lord is nigh thee ; he can loosen thy 
heart. Look up — the day of redemption draweth nigh. 
Why not now ? Say, 

" Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love ; 
Here's my heart, ! take and seal it, 
Seal it for thy courts above." 

3. Yes, says another — my heart ? Do you desire that ? 
ask for my money, my tongue, my voice, my feet, my hands, 
anything and everything but that. It is otherwise engaged. 
My Master has not left a power in my commission to com- 
promise it ; he will not take aught else. Engaged? " give 
it me," says God ; the gold is his — he is not hungry ; he 
needs not thy tongue nor voice— of these stones he could 
raise, &c. — he needs not thy hands, &c. — but thy heart ! 

4. Yes, says another, by his help I will; it is right. I 
cannot be safe without, and it is kind he seeks it. But 
when ? to-morrow — to-night is impossible ; in a very short 
time I will. I doubt thou wilt perish forever ! "Why do 
people perish who hear the Gospel ? Is it because they 
never intended to give their heart to God ? no ; the reason 
is, they put it off — sermon after sermon — almost every hearer 
is more or less awakened, and they see it is right. Now 
or never is one of Baxter's titles. What probability, in 
the name of God I ask it, that you will ever give if not 
now ? Will he be more willing to receive it ? Satan more 
willing to relinquish it ? you more inclined, the longer you 
stay in sin, to part with it ? See Felix — he trembles — the 
preacher's heart said, "See how God blesses the word;" 
he makes signs as if going to say, " What is it ? what shall 
I do ?" But oh ! how was the preacher's heart grieved at, 
" Go thy way for this time." You may die to-night, and 
sink to rise no more until the resurrection ! I see some of 
you as if about to speak. Is it " Go thy way ?" Then I will 
return to my Lord ! But he says again, " Go, and tell them 
all things are now ready." Will you all with one consent 



180 RELIGION FIRST. 

begin to make excuse ? What, not one ! not one man ! 
woman ! child ! O ! young — turn to-night. * # # See the 
prodigal ! imitate him ; " say if thou canst take me into thy 
family !" — at all — O ! take me even as a servant. But his 
language assures thee a higher place : " My son.'''' Now 
shall angels tune their harps afresh ! 

O ! my Father, I need not fly to thee with the answers 
of this people ; thou searchest their hearts ; I now resign my 
commission into thy hands. Does the word return void? 
Oh ! the suspense — the day shall declare it. May I be 
found faithful and innocent. 



SERMON XXVI. 



RELIGION FIRST. 



Luke, xii., 31. — But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall 
be added unto you. 

Men are of two classes : the carnal, these are doomed to 
death ; and the spiritual, whose end is life and peace. They 
are distinguished by the objects at which they aim. 

1. The carnal rejoice when the world's joys increase ; the 
spiritual when the Lord lifts upon them the light of his 
countenance. 

2. The carnal set their affections on earthly things ; the 
spiritual on things above. 

3. The carnal are asking continually, " What shall we eat 
and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be cloth- 
ed ?" their exertions are limited to this present life; the 
spiritual, though they neglect not the duties here, are yet 
chiefly concerned with the world to come — they seek first 
the kingdom of God. 

I. The intense pursuit here recommended. 
II. The encouragement to those who embrace it. 

We notice this kingdom in two points of view : First, in 



RELIGION FIRST. 181 

the hearts of believers here ; and, secondly, in perfection 
hereafter. 

1. In the hearts of believers here. A kingdom among 
men — also one within us — not attendance on ordinances, but 
joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Man is not naturally the subject of this kingdom, but a 
stranger, nay, a rebel to it ; a slave of Satan, not a subject of 
God. Hence Satan is called a strong man armed ; nor 
does the reign of grace come until the stronger man comes 
—Jesus Christ. God has contrived a plan to recover us 
from Satan's yoke, and to restore us to the first allegiance. 
He gave his Son — the cross ! — Death !— Jesus Christ ac- 
cepted the Father's appointment, and executed it. He died 
the just for the unjust ; this crucified Son the Father has 
highly exalted ; having placed him on a mediatorial throne, 
he commands all submission : " Kiss the Son" — the Gospel 
proclaims the exaltation. ' 'Blessed are they who trust in him." 
This proclamation is always accompanied by the power of 
the Holy Ghost more or less. Whoever proclaims it has this 
assurance : " Lo ! I am with you always," &c. Thus the 
Gospel is mighty through God ; whoever receives this Gos- 
pel record is saved at once from the guilt and poiver of sin, 
and becomes not only an object of God's favour, but a sub- 
ject of his authority ; sin, self, and Satan are dethroned, and 
this new and holy dominion in the heart is the kingdom of 
God. 

Kingdom so called for various reasons : First, God holds 
a kingly residence — his subjects are temples of the Holy 
Ghost. Secondly, A kingly rule is exercised in it — they do 
his will. Thirdly, To such he imparts his kingly bounty and 
protection : " No weapon that is formed against them shall 
prosper" — this is the heritage. 

2. In perfection hereafter — in the heavenly state — the 
kingdom of glory, of which that of grace is preparative. 
As both are under the same sovereign, they have the same 
subjects ; none will enter the kingdom of glory but they of 
the kingdom of grace ; grace is glory in the seed and bud, 
glory is grace in perfection : " He that believes has ever- 
lasting life." 

16 



182 RELIGION FIRST. 

" The men of grace have found 
Glory begun below." 

Is the former the kingdom of God because he holds his 
residence here ? Much more in the kingdom of glory — he 
fixes his throne there — they see him as he is. — Is the state of 
believers here termed a kingdom because he exercises his 
authority over them ? Much more in heaven — he reigns over 
them there forever and ever ; his government there is wholly 
by himself — it is most perfect ; he is served there day and 
night. Is their state so called because he gives his kingly 
bounty ? Much more in heaven. — This grace, then, is the 
great object of pursuit as the preparation for glory. 

" Seek it." This recommendation requires, First, A sin- 
cere desire after the King of Glory. We believe, on the 
authority of God's word, that there is not only another state 
generally, but that it is a state of retribution. This pro- 
duces a desire for participating in the joys hereafter — mean- 
time we desire grace as the preparation of glory — desire 
heaven for its purity, not for its enjoyment merely. Hence 
we pant after purity here. 

Secondly. It requires decided preference — rather seek it 
— prefers grace and glory to the necessaries of life ! — Su- 
premely — else you will never possess either grace or glory : 
" Count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowl- 
edge of Christ Jesus." 

Thirdly. It demands active diligence in the use of ap- 
pointed means. If your desire be sincere, it will stir you up 
to this. If you desire to be made a subject of that king- 
dom, you must seek it by penitence and faith. Repent — 
cherish the conviction which God's word suggests, and the 
Spirit of God enforces, that you are rebels ! Let this hum- 
ble you. Seek in earnest prayer the promised coming of 
Jesus. To this repentance and its fruits add faith in the 
Gospel ; receive Christ as able to save ; when he comes to 
the door of your hearts, refuse not by affected humility be- 
cause you are a sinful man. It is because of this he comes 
to save you ; it is the reason why he comes to you as your 
deliverer ; yea, it is the reason why you should accept him — 
open to him in simple faith. Cry out, " Come in, my Lord," 
and he will. 



RELIGION FIRST, 183 

Fourthly. Having been introduced into this state, are yon 
desirous to be preserved in it to eternal life ? Do your du- 
ties — attend the ordinances — " Add to your faith virtue ; and 
to virtue knowledge ; and to knowledge temperance ; and to 
temperance patience ; and to patience godliness ; and to 
godliness brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness 
charity." But he who trusts all these to his first faith is blind. 

II. The encouragement. All things shall be added. 
This implies, First, That the pursuit of the main object shall 
be successful — and he will add others. Solomon's case at 
Gibeah exemplifies this — he asked wisdom — he sought this 
supremely — God gave it him, and with it much more. 

Secondly. Other things shall be added — the necessaries 
of human life — food and raiment sufficient — but no more is 
promised. He may give more, and often does, and oftener 
would, if he saw his people would be faithful. But though 
it does not promise wealth, it promises what will make hap- 
py without it ; though not all he could like, yet he likes all 
that he has, and this is equal. This feeling is the effect in 
us when we have received the kingdom of God, because 
such know that it is from God. 

# # # First. Our subject addresses itself to the carnal 
and worldly. God has often said, " Seek my face ;." you say ? , 
no : " What profit shall I have if I pray unto him ?" — It re- 
minds you that you cannot have the kingdom of God with- 
out seeking — the way to hell is easy — down hill ; just fol- 
low the stream. But, if you would have grace and glory,, 
go against the stream. You may be honest, but " you must 
be born again." 

It also reminds you that grace and glory are worth seek- 
ing, and not worthy that contempt in which you hold them. 
(Styles.) 

Again, it calls on such to examine what they are seeking 
instead of this. Compare the two : a little wealth, ease> 
gratification, fair speeches and looks from men as mortal as 
yourselves, and this but for a moment ! ! And is this all for 
which sinners resolve to forego everlasting happiness? 
Yes ; to their everlasting shame be it said ! Dream — cheat 
— bubble — all they get who miss of heaven ! — This is not 



184 RELIGION FIRST. 

all— I am wrong. It may be all they seek. As they who 
seek first the kingdom of God have other things added, so 
they who seek the world have something added — hell — the 
flame unquenchable — all this he adds to those who trample on 
Christ— Eternity ! (Osterwald) — Dives's case shows it is 
real. 

Secondly. It addresses also the lukewarm. I would not 
confound you with the carnal ; I will give you your due. 
Though in a sense you are seeking, yet, as it respects the 
general habit of the mind, you seek it in the second place. 
You sacrifice religion to the world ; this is why you have 
just so much religion as makes you miserable. You love it 
in others. Oh ! shake off the dust of the earth — awake. 
The conviction of your judgment is right, but let your will 
choose it. " Lay aside every weight." Do not say you have 
not time. All can find time for what they love best — the 
miser — the sensualist. — If religion were alive in the heart, 
you would find time to keep religious feelings lively in the 
head. You must find time to die. (Jay.) Can the hus- 
band be satisfied with his wife if she only just please him ? 
So God — he must have the first place. 

Thirdly. It addresses itself to tried saints. What says 
the text to such ? Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and 
he will take care of you. — The best way to live to him 
is to think most of the other world. Man is an anxious be- 
ing. He will direct his mind to something. This is no sin ; 
but it is when anxious for this world. Says Jesus, cure this 
by directing your anxieties to infinite objects; seek the 
kingdom of God ; be subjects of his kingdom. If you are, 
pray that you may be perfected ; pray that you may be pre- 
pared by holiness, patience, &c, for higher advancements in 
that kingdom whither you are hastening. Be jealous for the 
king's honour — anxious to multiply his subjects. Contrive 
plans to recover the rebels. While anxious about the best 
things you will forget the paltry ones ; and eternity will con- 
vince you of the justice of your choice. # # # 



PAUL IN A STRAIT. 185 



SERMON XXVII. 

PAUL IN A STRAIT, 



Philippians, i., 23. — I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be 
with Christ, which is far better. 

None ever expressed more ardour of desire for the taber- 
nacle than David : "As the hart panteth after the water 
brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God !" " Wo is 
me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Ke- 
dar !" And shall Christians, strangers, pilgrims in a wil- 
derness, sigh less after their home ?— less for that " city which 
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God ?" — 
weary of dwelling in Meshech? — So Paul — though in a strait 
between the two, yet, when he consulted his own inclina- 
tion and interest, it was to die. Let us consider, 

I. The object of his wish — death with the happiness 
following — " to depart and be with Christ." 

II. His disposition with regard to it— with vehemence — 
4i Having a desire to depart." 

III. The reason of his desire— the great advantage — 
"far better." 

I. The object of his wish, &c. The death of the believer 
is only a departure to go and rejoin himself to Christ. Death 
so considered should not be an object of fear, but of " de- 
sire" 

How different the views of men on the subject of death : 
to the infidel, annihilation ; to the man of the world, a cruel 
separation from all he holds dear ; but to the Christian it is 
only a departure to be with Christ. 

1. A departure of the soul from the body — thus, death is 
common to all. O infidel, think not that thou shalt cease 
to be ! it is but a change of country. O men of the world, 

Aa 



186 PAUL IN A STRAIT. 

ye are chased away by a strong arm ; you do not " depart ;" 
the messenger drags you away ! the term of your tenement 
is expired. Not so the believer ; he knows that here he has 
" no continuing city" but " that, if the earthly house of this 
tabernacle be dissolved, he has a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ;" he is there- 
fore content to quit his cottage — he departs with freedom 
and honour ! 

2. It is the departure of the man altogether out of the so- 
ciety of the world ; a consigning of the body to dust, and 
the soul to a new world. 

All relations to sublunary things cease, and he will never 
hold the same connexion with them again. Painful thought 
to the wicked, whose heart was in the world — instructive 
to the righteous to sit loosely in affection to it. He is at an 
inn, not at home. Why be embarrassed, then, about the 
accommodations ? The soldier only pitches his tent ; the 
sailor merely touches at your coast. So you are as passen- 
gers waiting the change of wind. — The end of your voyage 
is " to be with Christ." 

The Scriptures represent the happiness of the righteous 
generally, whether before or after the resurrection, by this 
expression. 

But why did Paul employ this phrase in preference to any 
other ? He was filled with Christ ! If he live, it is be- 
cause Christ lives in him. If he resolve to know anything, 
it is " Christ and him crucified." Christ is life — wisdom — 
hope. Christ is gain to him, whether living or dying. 
Christ is his felicity after death. And in every respect he 
is the source of our felicity : " We shall dwell with him." 
# # # The kingdom he has opened for us is his kingdom ; 
the glory we are to inherit is his glory ; participation of his 
royalty ; the sight of him will be our chief happiness. — O ! 
to be with Christ ! 

We cannot be with Christ while here ; we must depart 
to be with him. Once the disciples were with him on earth, 
and earth was a Paradise ! Now it knows him no more. 
The Father has exalted him above the heavens, to draw 
our hearts after him. If he had remained always in this 



PAUL IN A STRAIT. 387 

world, who would have wished to depart ? But " he is not 
here — he is risen," and we follow. We know where he is, 
and the way we know. — But as He did not enter heaven 
without rending the veil, his flesh, so neither can we. Then 
more reason shall we have than even his disciples to say, 
"Lord, it is good to be here!" to dwell forever, not in a 
tabernacle, but in this holy mountain. 

Paul joins without any medium, "depart" and u he with 
ChrisV 

What numerous errors ! Talk no more of the soul's 
sleep till the resurrection ; let us hear no more of a purgatory. 
As to the first, it is impossible to separate thought from the 
soul. If it cease to think, it ceases to be- — it will not sleep, 
therefore. Would any be happy to die, if between death 
and happiness so long a space 1 Would Paul not rather 
have desired to live for the sake of his partial enjoyment 
of Christ here ? Would he then have said " depart and be 
with Christ ?" If the soul sleep when we depart, then it 
cannot be " better" than to live; for certainly life, and the 
present enjoyment of God, and the prospect of service to 
the church, are better, &c. 

The same may be said of purgatory ; to be in purgatory 
cannot be much better than being in the church serving God! 
Besides, this cannot be an object of desire, but rather of 
fear. To say Paul and the martyrs are exempted is mere 
assumption. The apostle connects himself with all believ- 
ers : " We in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, 
willing rather to depart and be with Christ" — this excludes 
us from purgatory as well as him. 

O ! how sweet the doctrine, " To depart and be with 
Christ!" 

II. The apostle's disposition with regard to it — with ve- 
hemence — " Having a desire to depart!" 

How extraordinary a desire ! especially when we con- 
sider the love of life and dread of death, so natural ! How, 
then, can death be an object of desire? and a desire so ve- 
hement as the original implies ? 

1. It is not so much death as the advantages we derive, 



188 PAUL IN A STRAIT.- 

and which follow after. Death in itself is not desirables $f 
is against the very first law of our nature. We do not con* 
demn all trembling at the prospect. We would not divest 
man of his humanity. Enoch's end, &c, was more agree- 
able ; and Paul had this sentiment: "Not that we would 
be unclothed^ but clothed upon ; that mortality might be 
swallowed up of life." 

But as passing through the valley is the ordinary way of 
going to Christ, there is nothing in our natural aversion 
which a well-grounded hope in the promises of the Gospel 
should not overcome. Why not religion do for us what 
philosophy has done for others ? or worldly honour as the 
soldier ? * * * What a consideration, " to depart and be 
with Christ." 

2. This desire is only found in the true believer — it is his 
Shibboleth, and his only. — We need not exhort the wicked 
not to fear death — surprising they do not fear it more. — * 
But whether we d-esire it or not, it does not tarry. It over- 
takes him who flies as well as him who expects it. Its- 
feet are swifter than the wind, its hands are stronger than 
iron. — 

But what ought this desire to be, and how far should it 
proceed ? 

1. It should be purely passive, not active ; it should no2 
stimulate us to lay violent hands on ourselves, but expect 
with joy and wait with pleasure the time when it shall please 
God to send for us. We should not be our murderers by 
refusing the body its proper care and nourishment, or by 
exposing ourselves to perils to which we are not lawfully 
called ; we should not break down the walls of our prison. 

2. This desire should be accompanied with patience and 
submission, not murmuring- nor repining. If there is piety 
in desiring death, there is sometimes more in suffering life* 
This belongs to the afflicted believer. Tarry for the Lord. 
Job says, " All the days of my appointed time will I wait r 
till my change come." 

3. It should not be carnal, but spiritual; not stimulated 
by the miseries of the present life, but by a desire to be with 



PAUL IN A STRAIT. 189 

•Uhrisi. If a wish to escape the pains and vanities of life, it 
should be only a secondary consideration. 

4. This desire may suffer some abatement by the service 
of the Church requiring you- — as a wife ordered to her hus- 
band, but is to leave her child behind. She is in a strait. — 
But take care this is not excessive, or a pretence to cover 
the excessive love of life. God can supply the Church and 
our families without us. 

III. The reason of his desire — the great advantage — 
" far better." 

Beyond comparison more advantageous — the original 
seems to imply that it is infinitely better. — Show this* 

1. Life, it is agreed by all, is subject to calamities with- 
out number. Now death, to be with Christ, is our jubilee ; 
our time of release and redemption. Here " man is full of 
trouble ;" every one has as much of the cup as he can well 
bear. 

But there all tears will be wiped away — and that by the 
hand of Christ I No more strifes among brethren ; no more 
sin. He will repair our wrongs and recompense our losses. 
O ! when will this deliverance come ? 

2. Compare the enjoyments of this life with the advanta- 
ges of being with Christ. View life now on its bright side- 
It has advantages : goods, honours, pleasures. — But none 
are very great nor very certain. None can give solid joy ! 
The soul is capable of three general affections : to know, 
love, feel. Three sources of actions and pleasures without 
number. * * * There it shall know God in a very different 
manner from now : in the presence of Christ it will always 
be at the source of truth ; enlightened at the fountain of un- 
created light by the true light ! and capable of considering 
things in connexion with causes, &e. # # # 

What do we love here ? Many of the objects are causes 
of pain ; we love many things which are bad and imperfect. 
There love will be free from obstacles, pure from carnal 
motives, vast in proportion to what we know, and know so 
perfectly. 

Here tke soul has a number of agreeable feelings ; but 



190 THE VALLEY OF DEATH OPENING 

much more there ! more agreeable, more lively I less lim- 
ited ! How many new sources of pleasure may not God 
lay open to us ! pleasures of which he himself is the source* 
Here they are gross, short, and imperfect — a day with Christ 
is better than a thousand I the crumbs from his table are bet- 
ter than the feasts of the rich and the abundance of the 
world. And as with pleasures, so with honours — coheirs 
with Christ ! — So with society — here, how the company 
of the wicked counterbalances the pleasures arising from 
the society of the pious ; there, glorified saints and Christ 
Jesus the Lord. ! Oh ! it is u better to depart and be with 
Christ !» 



SERMON XXVIII. 

THE VALLEY OF DEATH OPENING TO LIFE AND IM~ 
MORTALITY. 

Psalm xziii., 4, 5. — Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of , death, I 
will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies : thou anointest 
my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. 

I. The passage of good men to the mansions of light and 
life lies through the dark valley of the shadow of death. 

II. It is God's gracious presence with us, and his power- 
ful protection, that must enable us to go through without fear, 
nay, with confidence and comfort. 

I. The passage of good men, &c. 

1. How significantly is death represented as a shady val- 
ley. It is in itself the most deplorable temporal calamity 
that can befal our nature, In Scripture, affliction and mis- 
ery are represented as darkness ; and because our dying- mo- 
ments are naturally the most frightful, the greatest of other 
dangers are often called the shadow of death. Thus in 
Psalms : " Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of 
death, being bound in affliction and iron," u He brought 



TO LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 191 

them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake 
their bonds asunder." Because of the gloomy darkness in 
solitary valleys, overshadowed by high mountains, this adds 
a farther emphasis to import the depth and extremity of dis- 
tress, in which there appears little hope of relief.— Such is 
death to the eye of sense. 

Again, it intimates our natural dread of it and aversion 
to it. What a grim and ghastly aspect has death ! We 
start and shrink when we are called to walk even under his 
shadow ! See his harbingers — racking pains, convulsions, 
agonies, &c— and then the invisible world beyond ! How 
often do good men look on the gloomy side of it, for who 
knows what it is to die ? 

2. Vindicate the necessity even of good men passing 
through this valley. 

First. It is necessary for the demonstration of God's im- 
partial justice against sin. Death is not the result of our 
natural constitution, but the punishment of sin. The em- 
pire of death, then, is rendered as universal as the empire 
of sin. Wherever the hateful leprosy has spread, the walls 
of this clay must be pulled down ! 

Secondly. This conduct of God is highly conducive to the 
glory of his infinite wisdom. For this animal life is now 
only suited to this state of probation. The rewards of 
grace are more than the soul could enjoy in this present 
body ; we could not see God and live.- — We must have 
spiritual bodies. * % % % % 

Again, it is congruous to glorify God by the exercise of 
our faith in dying as well as in living. We glorify God 
when we live by faith ; and not less by dying in faith, as 
Job: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." 

And, farther, it is no impeachment of God's justice and 
goodness that good men die ; for, indeed, from them the 
sting of death is removed. 

3. The Psalmist supposes death to be the passage to 
a better life. Without this he could not say, " I will 
fear no evil ;" for such it would be if it were the ex- 
tinction of our being— and not to fear it would be stu- 



192 THE VALLEY OF DEATH, ETC. 

pidity. The gloomy thought, "wherefore hast thou made 
all men in vain ?" would then sink even a saint to de- 
spair. 

II. Consider the grounds of confidence and comfort sug- 
gested. 

1. God's gracious presence in a dying moment. And 
oh ! we never need it more ! — the light of his countenance ! 
The wolves were wont to set upon the sheep in solitary val- 
leys, and then they most needed the shepherd's care and 
presence. 

But what encouragement to trust God then ? " And the 
Lord, he it is that doth go before thee ; he will not fail thee 
nor forsake thee : fear not, neither be dismayed." " For 
this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our 
guide even unto death." 

2. God's merciful disposal and conduct of the Christian 
after death. He sees the shepherd going before, and fol- 
lows him ; he sees the pastoral staff conducting, and though 
the passage be dark he treads it firmly ; he hears the prom- 
ise, " I know my sheep, and I give unto them eternal life ; 
and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out 
of my hands." He has already passed under his rod, and 
been numbered among God's chosen, and he knows that he 
shall be brought to the heavenly fold. 

Again. The lively belief of God's presence will carry him 
through, not only without fear, but with comfort. To such 
a one, then, there is nothing terrible in death. 

Fears he the agonies and pains which are its forerun- 
ners ? Needful support shall be afforded. 

Fears he the consequences after death ? " Who is he that 
condemneth ? It u Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen 
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also ma- 
keth intercession for us." 

To such there is a comfortable prospect, which relieves 
his fears. His soul must leave the body ; but it is to be 
admitted into a nobler house not made with hands. He 
must leave friends, but only to exchange them for angels, 
&c. And as to his body, he knows that Jesus is " the 



THE SOWER 193 

first-fruits of them that slept ;" his flesh rests in hope, and 
then transformed ! 

Application. — See then the excellency of revealed religion 
in furnishing such solid supports. Socrates ! Cicero ! Sene- 
ca ! Contrast these with David, Job, Stephen, Paul — " I 
am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and be 
with Christ, which is far better." And this is common to all 
Christians ; " We are confident, I say, and willing rather, to 
be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 

What comfort in the prospect of deceased friends and rel- 
atives ! — Let us learn to die daily ; to familiarize the scene. 
Let the daily scenes of mortality lecture us. Let the falling 
leaf and flower remind us death is attacking our outworks, 
seizing an eye, a hand, a foot. 

And let us so live that the God of our life may be our 
guide in death and our portion forever ! 



SERMON XXIX. 

THE SOWER. 

Matthew, xiii., 1-9. — The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the 
seaside. 

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, 
and sat ; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went 
forth to sow : 

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and de- 
voured them up. 

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth ; and forthwith they 
spruug up, because they had no deepness of earth : 

And when the sun was up, they were scorched ; and because they had no root, 
they withered away. 

And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. 

But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundred-fold, 
some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. 

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

" The same day" — a Sabbath day— Jesus preached in the 

morning and wrought two miracles, from which we may 

conclude it probable that the events narrated in this chapter 

occurred in the afternoon. It would appear (from ch. xii., 

17 B b 



194 THE SOWER. 

1) that he had not had time to eat bread.* " He sat by the 
seaside,' ' a place of public resort. — Jesus always in the way. 

" He went into a ship, and sat ;" giving us an example in 
this also. — No pulpit unseasonable for him — not only do we 
find him in the Temple and synagogues on the Sabbath, but 
on mountains, in cities, in private houses ; by the wayside, 
seaside, and well's side. " He spake many things unto 
them in parables ;" a mode of teaching different from the 
Sermon on the Mount ; not, however, intended to conceal 
truth, but to excite inquiry. 

There is no little difficulty in expounding a parable ; to 
attempt it is almost darkening counsel by words — so simple, 
and yet so sublime. This is the first instance in which your 
speaker has attempted it, and he approaches it with a trem- 
bling hand. But, with the exposition of our Lord to guide 
us, we cannot greatly err. 

" Behold !" — Wake up attention — you are concerned — 
" a sower went forth to sow." — The heart is the moral soil 
— though the same base in all, it produces different results ; 
yet, believing that God is no respecter of persons, we be- 
lieve all are equally depraved. In some, a happier consti- 
tution, or education, or a more direct exposure to the moral 
sun, or fewer temptations, may cause a difference ; and 
hence many gain greater credit for piety and moral worth 
than they deserve. But, without attempting to determine 
the reason in every case — much mystery being involved — 
the ivorst soil is capable of bringing forth some fruit. 
Where circumstances are dissimilar, the eye of the hus- 
bandman may see the man with thirty-fold in an equally 
favourable light with him who brings forth a hundred-fold 
in a more genial situation. 

The seed is the Word of God ; this is necessarily good, 
and the fruit must therefore be good. The husbandman 
who sows pure seed has not a better right to expect a good 

* Example of Jesus for preaching twice a day. — -Nicholas White, of England, 
was accused of heresy because he commended this in Luther. A bishop said he 
■preached in the morning and prated in the afternoon. It was deemed puritanical. 
Thank God, times are changed. 



THE SOWER. 195 

crop in his field than has the spiritual sower ; for they both 
equally depend on the blessing of Him who sendeth down 
the early and the latter rain, and who alone giveth the in- 
crease. Again, like him, the minister knows beforehand 
the kind of fruit to be produced from the character of the 
seed. If wheat, he expects not barley. If he has sown the 
threatenings, he knows there will be a moving with fear, 
such as Noah felt when he prepared the ark. If promises, 
hope; if eternal glory, holiness; for " He who hath this 
hope purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Again, this 
seed is incorruptible : " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world." He that receives it " hath 
everlasting life." 

The sower is the preacher. Preaching is a religious or- 
dinance. — The minister's business is to sow, not to " lord it 
over God's heritage." He is but a husbandman ! — your 
servants! ! — He sows beside all waters; " in the morning 
casts abroad his seed, and in the evening withholds not his 
hand." He is the bearer of the seed-basket ; he has no- 
thing but what he has received. O ! to sow from one well 
"filled, shaken together, running over ! It is hard work to 
preach without the heavenly seed. Many, for want of this, 
have filled the basket with chaff; and the people are hun- 
gering before him, and with anxious eye desiring to be 
fed ! — fills their belly with husks — and others, for want of 
seed, have filled their baskets with tares and darnel, and 
are desolating the garden of the Church with noxious 
weeds ! O ! these scatterers of firebrands, arrow T s, and 
death ! 

And yet how often is the faithful pastor after God's own 
heart seen to go forth weeping, though bearing precious seed ! 
How often to adopt the inscription on Fletcher's tombstone !* 

* The portion of the inscription alluded to is the following words : 
" While others constrained him to take up 
The lamentation of the prophet, 
' All the day long have I stretched out my hands 
Unto a disobedient and gainsaying people ; 
Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, 
And my work with my God.' ** 



198 THE SOWER. 

How is this ! that with good seed and a faithful sower there 
is so great a disparity between the seed sown and the prod- 
uce ? Our parable informs us that it arises from the dif- 
ferent states of the hearers. We may divide these into four 
classes. 

I. Careless hearers. 

" Some seed fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and 
devoured it." However, they are " hearers" — so far it is 
good — better than they who never attend God's house. We 
do not tell you to stay away ; oh no ! we are sent to you, 
not to the righteous ; we want the sick in the hospital. But, 

1. They are only occasional hearers — not regular in their 
attendance. Perhaps they are attracted by a new or fa- 
vourite preacher, or they are in a strange place, and want 
to see the church as a public edifice ; to " see what manner 
of stones, and what buildings are there !" or they are at a 
friend's house, and they go out of courtesy to him. 

2. Again, they are unprepared hearers — " by the way- 
side ." Their minds are unploughed thoroughfares ; thoughts 
pass up and down them all the time in quick succession, and 
they seldom hear a word, though the voice of the preacher 
still sounds in their ears. If aroused by an emphasis, they 
see not the reason of it ; and if the conclusion of an argu- 
ment strike them, they cannot judge of its propriety, for they 
have not followed the train of reasoning. Satan, with his 
hellish host, hovers up and down like the fowls of the air, 
and picks up and devours the fallen seed. Thus the mind 
is the devil's thoroughfare ; he has ingress, egress, and prog- 
ress as he pleases ; for whoever else may or may not be at 
church, Satan is there. When "the sons of God came to 
present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among 
them." 

Luke says, " The devil cometh, and taketh away the word 
out of their heart, lest they should believe and be saved." 
This he does in two ways : First, by diverting their atten- 
tion — they understand, they consider not ; like " the eyes of 
the fool, their thoughts are in the ends of the earth:" the 
least thing diverts their attention as a child from his task 
—•the flitting of a bird— * # # # * 



THE SO WEE. 197 

Secondly, by preventing their remembrance — catching away 
what was sown on their hearts. When they leave the 
church, all is forgotten, even the text ; then they complain 
that they have bad memories I 

* # # Every sermon is the savour of life or death. O 
hear, that your souls may live ! Come prepared, and be 
Tegular in your attendance. We will yet pray for you ; but 
"who hath bewitched you?" Do you believe that we are act- 
ing a part that we feel not ? or that we are honest men ? 
If so, are ye wise men ? Every sermon either softens or 
hardens. O that you would consider ! (Newton's anec- 
dote of the ungodly son.) 

II. Superficial hearers. 

These are much better than the former ; they have ad- 
vanced considerably. 

1. They are in general persons of good understandings; 
they know how to appreciate the preacher's arrangement 
It is pleasing to us to address such. To such we have no 
need to explain at every sentence. We feel that we are un- 
derstood, and we go forward boldly. Meanwhile, their in- 
tellect is delighted, they are pleased and charmed with 
what they hear. Possessing fine sensibilities also, they are 
easily affected ; they weep under the word, and would fain 
join the daughters of Jerusalem. — But they would feel the 
same under a play, or at hearing a tale of fiction, &c, &c. 

But the conscience! Ay, that is untouched — there is no 
individual application to themselves. Talk of criminality ? 
and they take up the Newgate Calendar. — (H. More.) 

Now these "withered away!" The reason of this was, 
1. An inward defect — the rock was under, and had never 
been broken up. " They had no depth of earth," and thus 
they lacked moisture. 2. Outward circumstances were per- 
haps unfavourable. They had not the benefit of church 
communion, or of those who, like Jonah's gourd, might 
have screened their naked heads. The sun rose and " they 
were scorched :" temptation came, and they stumbled; the 
reproach of Christ. # # # # # 

# # # We admire your understandings, and if eternity 



£98 THE SOWER. 

were not connected with our discourses, we should be per- 
fectly satisfied — our point would be gained. We admire 
your sensibilities — we could weep with you. We have wept 
over you in secret, and oh ! how often have our expectations 
been raised when we have seen the effect produced upon 
you. But religion must enter your hearts deeper than this ! 
" Break up the fallow ground !" Cry unto God to do it 
for you.* 

III. Worldly-minded persons. 

" And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up 
and choked them." These are superior to the two former 
classes. Perhaps they are the greater portion in the church 
of God, for the text gives us reason to infer their member- 
ship. This class is not confined to one grade in society. 
" The cares of this world" are not confined to the poor, nor 
the love of " riches" to the rich : and oh ! the danger of 
those that " will be rich !" — The seed has taken deep root; 
we have seen the grace of God in you ! But the poor be- 
came w careful about many things," and others could not 
bear prosperity, and thus these " thorns" have overtopped 
the good seed. It is now pale, yellow, jaundiced, sickly, 
and ready to perish, and bears no fruit to perfection ! 

# * # The love of God is a tender plant ! it must not be 
shut out from the sun. " Love not the world, neither the 
things that are in the world ; for all that is in the world, the 
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is 
not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world pass- 
eth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of 
God [and he only] abideth forever." " Ye adulterers and 
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is 
enmity with God ?" {Fletcher.) — Oh ! what a blight has 
come over you — ( Wolsey) — and that when he thinks his 
prospects are ripening. Oh ! how have we anticipated the 
ripe fruit in the ear ! — Vain ! — 

"IV. Good and honest hearts. 

" But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, 
some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold." 
Thank God, we have some reward then ! These are pre- 

* Clarke, in loco. 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 199 

pared, regular, fruitful — they are planted in the house of 
God, and hence fat and flourishing in old age — evergreens 
— bearing fruit every month. 

Application. — See that you make up the deficit of the un- 
godly — bear fruit, thirty-fold, sixty-fold, a hundred-fold ! 
While others blaspheme, do you hallow ; while they defame, 
do you entreat ; when they curse, do you bless : " Be filled 
with the fruits of righteousness." — The reapers, the angels, 
are at hand ! 

Finally. One reflection connected with the subject is truly 
awful, that three parts out of four of the seed goes to waste ! 
Good seed too ! the fault is not there. Is it in God ? 
" Lord, pardon me the question l" Is it in the sower ? 
" Lord, lay not this sin to my charge !" Is it in the hearers 
then ? Oh ! I am sick at heart ! That three out of four in 
this assembly may receive the seed in vain ! Oh ! fearful ! 
Let every man put the question to himself, " Lord, is it I V 9 

But oh ! at the harvest, the end of the world ! Shall three 
out of four in this assembly perish ? Lord, who is it ? 
" Lord, are there few that be saved ?" 



SERMON XXX. 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



Hebrews, vi., 1. — Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us 
go on unto perfection. 

Paul's style is parenthetical. In the preceding chapter 
he had been giving a luminous view of the priesthood of 
Christ, and that in the highest point of comparison pos- 
sible : the Melchisedaical. — But, as if feeling the incom- 
petence of his hearers, he is struck off from his purpose 
in the eleventh verse of fifth chapter, and through the 
remainder of that as well as of sixth chapter he follows 
the train of thought induced, and resumes his plan only 
in the beginning of seventh chapter: " For this Mel- 



200 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

chisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who 
met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and 
blessed him ; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of 
all ; first being by interpretation King of Righteousness, and 
after that also King of Salem, which is, King of Peace ; 
without father, without mother, without descent, having nei- 
ther beginning of days nor end of life ; but made like unto 
the Son of God ; abideth a priest continually.' ' 

Our text is intimately connected with the words prece- 
ding ; thus, after speaking of Melchisedec, the apostle con- 
tinues : " For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye 
have need that one teach you again which be the first prin- 
ciples of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have 
need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that 
useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness : for he 
is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of 
full age, even to those who by reason of use have their sen- 
ses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, 
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on 
unto perfection." What may we not infer from this but that 
our people generally are still dull of hearing ? How little 
do they know, compared with what they might ; and how 
often is the minister of Christ obliged again to lay " the 
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith to- 
wards God ;" and, consequently, to stop short of those riches 
of Divine truth which lie scattered so plentifully on the sa- 
cred page ! 

Nor would I have this considered an arrogant train of 
reasoning. I would preach it to myself also. O how many 
delightful spots are there yet in the sacred field of Divine 
truth which my eye never saw ! How many green pastures 
on which I never reclined ! How many pure fountains 
whose bubbling waters I never tasted ! Brethren, we are 
all guilty herein ! How much more might we have known 
of God, his nature, his perfections ! How much more expe- 
rience might we have had of his grace in our hearts ! How 
much more might we have known of the glories of his throne, 
and how much more frequently might we have been rapt up 
as into the third heavens ! " Whether in the body I cannot 
tell," &c. 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 201 

But there is another inference which we may derive from 
the text : " Leaving these first principles of the doctrine of 
Christ," let us this morning outstep the ordinary bounds, 
and " go on unto perfection." 

I. The object contemplated. 
II. The manner of its attainment. 

I. The object contemplated — Perfection. 

Much has been said and written on this subject, and yet it 
is little understood by many. The primary meaning which 
the apostle applies to the term is doubtless, A preparedness 
of our intellectual powers to take in the truths of God. From 
the character which our meditation has assumed, this must 
be evident. And will any one say that this is not necessary 
to our receiving the deep things of God ? — There are those, 
I know, who profess much knowledge of Divine truths, and 
yet have no experimental enjoyment of them. We see in 
them that there may be a clear apprehension of the things 
of God apart from their operation on the heart. But then 
this is not called the knowledge of Divine things in Scripture. 
I have no idea of light separate from life ; the word is liv- 
ing — spirit and life — and it must produce life where it is 
known in the true sense of the word. There is, I admit, a 
great difference between the knowledge of a fact and the 
conviction of it ; but the latter only is the saving knowledge 
- — knowledge connected with feeling. — Let a man know that 
he is a sinner^ and know it so as to feel the sentence of death 
in himself, and he will be quickened to cry unto God for 
mercy. Let him know the remedy in the Saviour of sinners, 
and his knowledge will not be of that vague and general 
character which regards him as the Saviour of men : he will 
have an individual personal property in him as his Saviour. 
Thus might we trace in all the Christian's life the connexion 
inseparable between light and life. " The light is the life 
of men !" 

After this explanation, you will not startle at my hav- 
ing commenced the subject of perfection with the primary 
meaning of the apostle in reference to knowledge. Perfect 

Cc 



2Q2 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION, 

knowledge touches at every point of the Christian charac- 
ter : it is connected with perfect love, perfect humility, per- 
fect purity, &c, &c, &c. 

But I shall not stop here. We come more immediately 
to the nature of perfection. — For the right understanding of 
this we may consider it in four points of view. 

First. Absolute perfection. This can belong to God only, 
for it is impossible, in the nature of things, that this should 
attach to a creature. Infinity is essential to absolute perfec- 
tion. Whatever qualities we may discover in any being, 
however amiable and excellent, yet, if its means be limited > 
no absolute perfection can exist. This perfection, therefore, 
can only belong to God. And it is strange that men still use 
the term absolute in connexion with finite creatures, and 
thus wilfully stumble at what is not affirmed. 

Secondly. We may consider it in the nature of beings 
themselves compared with other beings. — This is relative 
perfection, and has reference to any kind of beings whatever, 
limited to its own species. Thus we speak of a flower, a 
plant, a tree, as being perfect in its kind, &c. 

But, leaving the world of inanimate nature — and a thou- 
sand illustrations would offer therein — we look into the world 
above. Now there exists a class of beings called angels, and 
these are perfect in their nature and kind ; that is the per- 
fection of an angel, archangel, throne, power, &c. 

But to bring all this to bear on us. You have heard of 
the perfection of Adam, or Adamic perfection ; that was the 
perfection of a being, all of whose powers and faculties were 
complete and without the slightest derangement ; he was 
perfect after his kind — and now the perfection of man in 
the present state of things is the perfection to which the Gos- 
pel leads him, and which Wesley fitly called Christian per- 
fection. 

What the nature of this is we must consider afterward ; 
but how much would have been spared from the stock of hu- 
man passion if this definition had been attended to ! There 
is a perfection of a Christian man, after his kind. * * 

Thirdly. We may consider it again as to the attainment 
of the highest possible degree after his kind. 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 203 

This differs from the former in this, that it leads us to 
stretch after the highest point in that perfection to which our 
nature is capable. If we may speculate in mysteries, we 
might say that the perfection of an angel is in rising to the 
highest point of attainment of which his nature is capable ; 
and, to bring this point to bear on ourselves, the perfection 
of a Christian consists in his stretching after and attaining to 
the highest point of which his nature is capable. — A child is 
perfect after his kind ; that is, he has a perfection of parts, 
but not yet a perfection of degrees : and this will illustrate 
the meaning. — His nature is capable of more. 

Fourthly. The term perfection is again used where there 
is an adaptation in the person or thing for the purpose for 
which it was designed. 

Many instances occur in Scripture wherein the term is 
applied in this sense to our Saviour — his adaptation to the 
work on which he had entered. When anything answers 
the place for which it was intended, exactly fitting it, it is 
perfect. Thus, for example, we talk of a perfect musician ; 
that is, one every way qualified for his profession : a perfect 
scholar, one fitted for that department of science which he 
fills, &c. 

Now to bring this to bear on us : when the man is per- 
fectly adapted for every requirement of the Christian char- 
acter ; when there is in him a meetness for every part of 
his calling, for time and eternity — there is a perfect Chris- 
tian ! 

II. The manner of its attainment. 

Now let us endeavour to condense all these ideas. We 
have to speak of Christian perfection. 

1. It must be obvious, in the nature of things, that this 
does not mean a perfection of knowledge ; this is not essen- 
tial. Here we shall always " see through a glass darkly ;" 
that is, in a reflected medium, and, therefore, not clearly. 
The outlines may be discovered, but there will be too much 
dimness to be correct in our view. 

What does this teach us but that we should bear and 
forbear ? " Judge no man before the time, until the Lord 



204 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of dark- 
ness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart." 
Many have been mistaken here ; they have fancied they 
had all knowledge : and with a very high-sounding profes- 
sion, they have exhibited the character of the cynic and the 
censor ; their spirit has not harmonized with their profession, 
and I have put such down for much less than they have 
boasted ; they have pretended to discern spirits and detect 
motives ; but let such know that "the wisdom from above (if, 
indeed, theirs is from above) is first pure, then peaceable, 
gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." O there is 
a tender-heartedness in the perfection of a Christian re- 
moved from this ! An offence against the rule of loving' 
kindness is an offence against the Christian character — lov- 
ing- kindness is the prominent feature of a Christian ! But 
this leads us to see, 

2. That, though a perfection of knowledge is unattain- 
able, there is a perfection of love ! " Perfect love," says 
St. John — this is Christian perfection, when love stands out 
visibly ', and draws every other power into exercise under its 
presiding influence. 

This is the perfection of God — " God is love ;" and ev- 
ery other attribute of his, whether holiness, justice, good- 
ness, truth, &c, is but a modification of this essential princi- 
ple — the existence of this love in a certain mode ! 

This, then, must be my perfection. Love must be prom- 
inent ; it must draw out the memory — the judgment — 
touch the spring of action, &c— O what a heaven is this ! 
when love dwells in the heart, looks out at the eye, beams 
in the face, breathes from the lips, distils from the hands, 
moves in the feet, and creates an atmosphere all around 
which angels might delight to inhale ! " He that dwelleth in 
love dwelleth in God, and God in him. And hereby we 
know that he abide th in us ? by the spirit which he hath giv- 
en us." 

3. The highest possible point of attainment in Christian 
perfection is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and thy neigh- 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 205 

bour as thyself." Without a metaphysical definition of 
terms, our Lord means that " we should love with the whole 
man." Here, then, behold the perfection in kind : " Love 
him with thy heart ;" and in degree : il with all thy heart." 
St. John says that "perfect love casteth out fear;" such a 
thing, therefore, must exist, or how did he know ? 

O ! if this principle, thus carried out in its fullest extent, 
had full operation in my heart ! O how should I preach, and 
act, and think ! O where do the Christians live ? Had it 
operation in yours, then might it be said of you, " See how 
these Christians love !" O how it would 

" Burn up the dross of base desire, 
And make the mountains flow !" 

O how it would destroy all evil surmisings, all uncharifa- 
bleness, &c. ! — Lord, purify us to thyself! Sublimate our 
affections ! 

Now this is what we call holiness, which I would define 
as the perfect harmony of every part of the Christian char- 
acter. The holiness of God is the harmony of all his attri- 
butes, the unity of all his perfections, love being the common 
centre. The holiness of a Christian is the harmony of the 
whole man with the abounding principle of love ; all his 
thoughts and actions evolve from this centre, are held in re- 
straint thereby, and all feel the power of its mighty rule ! 
Love is all ! 

4. But in our definition of perfection there is anothor idea 
we have' to glance at, and we can only touch it : this is the 
adaptation now of such a man for the sphere for which God 
designed him. 

O how he steps out into life ! See him !— serving God 
and his generation ! His is not a principle of life merely, 
but life in full vigour. A child can talk, and a paralytic 
can crawl, but the perfect man opens his mouth with wis- 
dom ; the law of loving kindness is on his lips ; he is eyes 
to the blind and feet to the lame ; he mounts up to heaven 
as on wings ; he runs without weariness ; he is a vessel unto 
honour ; he is fitted by the Master's hand ! O what a state 
is this ! * * * * * * * 

" Now the God of peace, which brought again from the dead 
18 



206 god's love to a perishing world. 

our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you 
perfect to do his will, there is the point !— and then his will 
is done on earth as in heaven ! 



SERMON XXXI. 



John, iii., 16. — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Of all subjects, that of human redemption is the most 
important. — Of all the contents of this Bible, though the ele- 
ments of all knowledge are in it, &c. — Of all passages in 
Scripture this is the grandest ! It is the announcement of 
Him who came from the bosom of the Father ; this single 
passage concentrates the whole. 

Consider, 

I. The subjects of this love. 
II. The effect of it. 
III. The final design and end. 

I. The subjects of this love — " The world" It will be 
useless to give its various senses. It here means, as any 
unlettered man would see, the whole of intelligent beings 
on our globe, the thing containing — that is, "the world" — ■ 
being put for that which is contained. 

1. If, then, " God loved the world" he loved first those 
who deserved no such regard. We were enemies when God 
loved us ; this is the commendation of it. — Behold what 
manner of love is here ! and yet " God loved the world !" 

2. If so, he loved those who were unable to do anything 
to merit it; we were " ivithout strength;" there dwelt in 
us no good thing. We were not guilty only, but corrupt ; 
and yet " God loved the world !" 

3. If so, he loved those who never desired, as well as 
never deserved his love. If man had manifested any will- 
ingness to return to his allegiance, &c. ; but " The carnal 



gWs love to a perishing world. 207 

mind was enmity against God," and yet " God loved the 
world !" 

4. If so, he loved those who had actually demerited ever- 
lasting punishment ! Ours was not a negative state merely, 
but a positive. The law had come home, and sentence 
was passed. — Yet, under all these circumstances, " God 
loved the world !" 

"But what," it may be asked, "was the motive?" I 
know that answers have been attempted— vain man would 
pry into the reasons of the Divine mind ! — It is said, that 
though man is morally depraved, yet that he is of great in- 
tellectual worth, &c. 

There are reasons against this. 

1. For aught we know, angels were of higher intellect; 
yet devils were not redeemed. 2. The greater the intellect, 
the greater the crime, and the more hateful the sinner. Be- 
sides, sin has a weakening tendency even on intellect, and 
we cannot tell how contracted we should have been but for 
the redemption of Jesus; this, therefore, cannot have been 
the cause of that redemption ! 

3. But mainly, the Scriptures nowhere represent God's 
love thus: they run in different language: "He remem- 
bered us in our low estate." Whatever intellectual worth 
man might have had while innocent, the crown is fallen, and 
his honour is in the dust. 

This view, then, does not sufficiently hide pride from man ! 

The Scriptures always represent redemption as from the 
innate love of God ! and this is not incongruous if we con- 
sider, 

1. " God's ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as 
our thoughts." There is an incomprehensibility in them, &c. 

2. That love is one of the Divine attributes, and the per- 
fection and centre of the whole. 

3. That this attribute is infinite as every other ; and when 
infinite love is at work, who can tell what shall be produ- 
ced ? 

4. That the glory of God is the great end of all his ac- 
tions, and he saw that a greater glory would redound to his 
excellent name in the salvation than in the destruction of 



208 god's love to a pehishing world. 

our race. — The cross clusters around it, His brightest glo- 
ries. " God only knows the love of God !" 

II. The effect of God's love. 

If this love had been merely exercised in pity, it would 
have been of little use ; though still kind in God to notice 
us at all ! It was active — " He gave his Son V* 

1. u His Son" in a proper sense — above angels and men. 
God of God, Light of Light,, very God of very God, &c- 
Not his Son by creation, for he is not a creature ;. not by 
adoption, for he was never an alien- — his own Son — Divine ! 
" To the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,, is forever and 
ever !" 

2. w His only Son." If another, the wonder not so great. 
— The family in Germany. — " He did always those things 
which pleased the Father." We admire Abraham's faith, 
but there is no parallel, though a type. — In this, God only 
resumes what was his own ; but Jesus was independent I 
Isaac a creature, and Abraham the bestower, a creature 
also. But see the infinite God giving his eternal Son ! 

3. He gave him — voluntarily ; no obligation — and gave 
him as a sacrificial offering (Isaiah, iiii.) ; and mark, also, 
Jesus gave himself! 

We pity the weakness of those who are eternally profess- 
ing I know not what of reason, &c, and deride the Gospel 
plan as unjust, to punish the innocent for the guilty. We 
know it where it is constrained ; but who sees not that 
there may be substitution? and in our case it was so. Jesus 
being an independent being, the Father had no claim there,, 
but he offered himself : u Lo, I come : in the volume of the 
book it is- written of me : I delight to do thy will,. O God." 

O this gift ! Jesus is now ours — given for us and given 
to us ! 

III. The final design and end of the love of God. 

It has two branches : to save from hell — and to exalt to 
heaven. Can we appreciate this salvation I What would 
it have been to be lost ! eternally lost ? Tell it, Dives ! tell 
it, devils ! — Eternity — for it is parallel to the extent of the 
life to which we' are redeemed. 

And what would it have been to be saved, ? Oh ! angels- 



god's love to a perishing world. 209 

above, assist our conceptions ! — And this salvation, even 
knowable here — " hath everlasting life ;" " hath passed from 
death to life." #####* 

" Whosoever believeth"-— But, then, this salvation is still 
by faith. Has Jesus no right to have the honour of our sal- 
vation by prescribing the terms ? — Submit to the righteous- 
ness of God. — " Who art thou, O man, that repliest against 
God ?" 

Yet mark the wisdom of this — it is salvation by grace, 
though through faith ; and " it is of faith, that it might be by 
grace." Pride is hid from man. No works of righteous- 
ness are prescribed ; " believe," is the Gospel law — and be- 
lieve now ; and mark, continue to believe— for there must 
be an enduring to the end, 

" Whosoever" Oh ! mourning man— backslider, &c, art 
thou doubting ? mark, " whosoever." — Bless God for this 
word ! — no exception — thou art the man. — See all thy sins 
on Jesus laid ! Believe — believe — go not away. * * 

If God's love in redemption be not universal, he is worse 
to us than the devil. He has made us with powers of intel- 
lect capable of recollecting the past, reflecting on the pres- 
ent, and anticipating the future. 

By his Spirit he alarms all, from time to time, and gives 
them hell in anticipation. 

Satan never torments before the time ; he blindfolds, and 
is willing we should enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a sea- 
son, and wakes us not to any alarm. 

Much has been said on this subject, but it is not exhaust- 
ed. There is an eternity of meaning in one little word 
which we have not yet touched. " So ." 

1. So loved them ? Why, then, he loved man more than 
he loved any other intelligent creature ; he passed by an- 
gels. 

2. So loved them ? Yes ! and on this creature man he 
bestowed his greatest gift — a gift whose value angels never 
told. — Archangels fail to cast the high account. 

3. So loved him ? Yes, so as to run out the line of his 
benevolence to its end; he could do no more; his power 
might yet act, but a greater display of love than this, Omnip* 

D D 



210 THE HEAVENLY GLORY. 

otence could not perform. In creation we see the hand, in 
redemption the heart of God ! 

4. So loved them ? as to paralyze hell, as well as heaven 
in astonishment. " Angels' minds are lost to ponder." 

So loved them ? as to render his love unutterable ! 

" And when you've raised your highest notes, 
His love can ne'er be told." 

Application : 

1. The views we should entertain of God the Father. 

2. The proper view of the value of Christ's blood. 

3. Believe the record God has given. 

4. Love him again, and keep his commandments. 



SERMON XXXII. 

THE HEAVENLY GLORY. 

A FAREWELL DISCOURSE. 

Psalm xvi., 11. — In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleas- 
ures for evermore. 

Our attachments here, even as Christians, are liable to be 
broken or loosed, sometimes by the sacrilegious hand of vio- 
lence, sometimes by the calls of duty, sometimes by Provi- 
dential circumstances : in the last two cases, the attachment 
remains in spirit ; and this leads us to remember each other 
and to inquire after absent friends. 

This mutability has the effect in good men of leading 
them onward to that place where they shall be no longer 
strangers nor pilgrims — the everlasting home ! In the pros- 
pect of our separation we cannot do better than direct you 
to that heaven where there " is fulness of joy," and to 
" God's right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore." 

Jesus adopted the same method in removing from his dis- 
ciples : " I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and 
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you 
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And 
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." 



THE HEAVENLY GLORY. 211 

The context refers to the eternal world, and directs us, 

I. To the place. 
IT. The nature of our state. 

I. To the place : " In thy presence''' — " at thy right hand." 
These are metaphors adapted to our senses. 

"In thy presence." God is an infinite Spirit — possesses 
no parts — he is equally in hell as in heaven — we cannot flee 
from his presence. But any place where he has made a 
visible display of his glory may more especially be called 
his presence — Moses and the bush. That such a visible dis- 
play of glory exists somewhere, St. John assures us in Reve- 
lations : " And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God 
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the 
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is 
the light thereof." Our Lord also points us to the place 
by saying, " Our Father who art in heaven" Heaven, then, 
is the place. 

We speak of three heavens in the Scriptures : 1. The at- 
mosphere : " Cities walled up to heaven" 2. The sidereal: 
" When I consider the heavens the work of thy hands, the 
moon and the stars which thou hast ordained." 3. The 
empyreal : " The palace of angels and God." St. Paul was 
" caught up to the third heaven." All the Scriptures lead 
us to conclude that there is a visible display there ; hence it 
is called " The presence of God." 

" At thy right hand" This may signify a place of fa- 
vour ; thus in Matt., xxv. : " When the Son of Man shall 
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then 
shall he sit on the throne of his glory : and before him shall 
be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one 
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from his 
goats : and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the 
goats on his left." A place of dignity also — Jesus Christ is 
exalted there. A place of conquest : " This honour have all 
his saints." " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit 
down with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and 
am set down with my Father in his throne." He that comes 



212 THE HEAVENLY GLORY. 

off more than conqueror shall sit down at the right hand of 

Jesus. The Christian well compared to a soldier. 

Heaven, then, is a place as well as a state. " I go to pre- 
pare a place for you," said our Lord to his disciples. — We 
must attach space to bodies — Moses, Enoch, Elijah, and the 
bodies of the saints. ##.##"* 

II. The nature of our state. " Joy and pleasures ." 

Metaphysical definition. * * * Joy may signify here the 
delight arising from the direct immediate enjoyment of 
God ; and pleasure, the collateral sources of happiness 
which heaven shall furnish. 

We need not separate them, but, uniting them, under- 
stand, 

1. The fulness, the perfection of our happiness — joy. 

2. The perpetuity of it — for evermore ! 

But wherein shall this happiness consist ? "Eye hath 
not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart 
of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that 
love him." Impossible for man to utter ; but we may fol- 
low Revelation safely. (Swedenberg.) 

1. It will consist in the perfection of our nature. The 
body " sown in dishonour" — human nature in disgrace, &c. 
— " it was sown an animal body, it shall be raised a spirit- 
ual body." The mind, also — not then informed by analo- 
gies, reasonings, and demonstrations, but by direct commu- 
nications. 

2. Exemption from sorrow and fear — " Born to trou- 
ble ;" pain, sickness, wearisome days and nights. Those 
can best appreciate this exemption who thus suffer. — Our 
fears, too, are equal to our sorrows : " For we wrestle not 
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against 
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
against spiritual wickedness in high places" — incessant at- 
tacks from the powers of hell. — Our collected sighs would 
raise a tempest ; our united tears would form a deluge ! 
Now this very negative happiness, methinks, should endear 
heaven to us. 

3. The nature of our employment. We may harmlessly 
suppose that we shall be like angels, ministering spirits to 



THE HEAVENLY GLORY. 213 

other worlds. Heaven is a state of rest, but not of quies- 
cence : man must be active — freed from weariness, be- 
cause his body will be no longer corporeal — quick in motion 
as thought, &c, &c. 

Another employment will be contemplation. — The works 
—Providence — Redemption. 

Another, praise. St. John, in Revelation, speaks without 
a figure in describing the harpers, &c. — The four-and-twenty 
elders falling down and worshipping, &c. — and again he 
uses every earthly sound which nature could furnish : " The 
sound of a great multitude — many waters — mighty thunder- 
ings." — The Lamb the burden of the song! 

4. Again, we shall meet our friends there. — We have all 
some — revered parents — affectionate husbands — tender part- 
ners — or lovely children — 

" Urge onward, they cry 
As they flit through the sky." 

We shall also meet " the general assembly and church of 
the first-born."— 

5. The presence, the vision, the enjoyment of God ! 
This is the bliss of heaven ! The schoolmen ask, " How 
can we see God ?" God never manifested himself in any 
other way than through Christ Jesus. We see his works, 
but they were all created by Christ Jesus. — Providence — 
but all under the guidance of Christ Jesus ; Redemption — 
but it was effected by Christ Jesus ! Golden letters ! " See 
him as he is !" In him concentrated, imbodied, the Father 
and the Spirit — the middle person — the connecting link ! 
Angels gaze here with astonishment ! 

This u fulness of joy'' 1 will be a continual progression 
also.-— Its perpetuity — " A perpetuity of bliss is bliss !" 

Application. — Sinner ! it doth not yet appear what thou 
shalt be. " Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath 
it entered into the heart of man to conceive it." 

Believer ! Press on, no matter what cheer. 



214 G0D IN HIS SANCTUARY. 



SERMON XXXIII. 



GOD IN HIS SANCTUARY. 



Isaiah, iv., 5. — And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, 
and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire 
by night : for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 

The context shows that our text refers to the times of the 
Messiah. #####* 

I. Religious worship, whether in the family or the sanc- 
tuary, is particularly regarded by God. 

" Mount Zion" is the Church of the living God, &c. — it 
only refers to praying families ; no others in the Church of 
God. (Includes also private prayer ; and for this family 
prayer is not a substitute. What a solemnity, a sweetness 
— a cloud and a smoke, &c, the symbols of the Divine 
presence ! Some Christians have a spot in the closet set 
apart ; it is proper, and not superstitious — the association 
is great. Fletcher — his wall discoloured by prayer, &c. 
Have your closets been distinguished ? — I call conscience — ) 
Sanctuary worship — " her assemblies." Two or three 
gathered together. The word gathered refers to harmony 
in music ! no sight under heaven more sublime ! it is the 
home where the Father meets his family ! Why God hears 
the ravens when they cry, # % # # 

II. God will express his approval by manifestations of 
his presence — allusion to the Jews. Not confined to the 
cloud and pillar — but all the luminous appearances, from 
the fiery cherubim in Paradise — to the appearances of 
Jesus — they showed a present God — appeared to patri- 
archs — tabernacle — and settled in the Holy of Holies. It 
represented the throne of the Messiah ; there was no beauty 
if Jesus separated from it ; it was the shrine of Deity, and 
gave the temple its sanctity. 

Now this, having reference to Jesus, has given way to 
his spiritual appearance in your hearts ; the benefits of the 



GOD IN HIS SANCTUARY. 21 & 

Jews from the Shechinah were a type of the benefits of Je- 
sus among us. What were these ? 

1. The manifestation of truth — the Urim and Thummim 
— the high-priest appeared before the Shechinah with these 
on his heart — " perfect lights ;" this was their design — more 
important than their form. 

There is nothing dark in the answer of God, but clearly 
typical of the manifestation of Divine truth by Jesus Christ 
in the Gospel ; Jesus Christ the only medium through which 
we can have knowledge of God, redemption, and the way 
of worship. He the Father has declared Head over all to 
his Church. We have come here, then, to inquire of the 
Lord ; this is the proper place to behold the beauty of the 
Lord, and to inquire in his temple. We may see much 
beauty in nature and Providence ; but, for his full-orbed char- 
acter, come into the sanctuary. The view of creation 
touches not the penitent's case ; the sun, moon, stars cannot 
preach the Gospel — cannot answer " What shall I do to be 
saved ?" Travel round creation — all is silent here — the sin- 
ner is driven back on his own guilty state. But come 
where the Urim and Thummim are, come into the sanctuary, 
" Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
world." 

" See all your sins on Jesus laid, 
The Lamb of God was slain ; 
His soul was once an off' ring made 
. For every soul of man." 

The Holy Spirit will lead up the hill of Calvary — " Thy sins^ 
which are many, are all forgiven." 

This applies to every doctrine of the Gospel — all is through 
Jesus Christ. #####* 

2. The display of holiness — an important object. — Wher- 
ever the Shechinah appeared, an impression of holiness. — 
Moses and the bush — the Holy of Holies. 

Thus, in the manifestation of the Gospel, we have not 
only a display of truth, but of holiness also. — " God is in 
this place ;" perhaps I knew it not. How solemn the mind 
should be — what a display of holiness ! 

It is intended that we should seek this holiness, " behold- 



216 <SOD IN HIS SANCTUARY. 

ing, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we should be 
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as 
by the Spirit of the Lord." All the promises assure us 
that we may be holy. Jesus Christ is our model. Put on 
Christ, and be found in him. 

The manifestation of Divine truth is not for speculation, 
but to sanctify : " Sanctify them through thy truth.' ' I 
preach in vain otherwise, and you hear in vain. God is the 
great standard, and the end of all is perpetual assimilation 
to him through time and eternity. — Here it is slow, but 
eternity is to be employed in increasing the likeness. 

3. Communication of comfort. The cloud covered Israel 
in a heated atmosphere ; it dropped dew, and they were 
baptized in the cloud. Is not this the end of the spiritual 
manifestation? The Holy Ghost is called the Comforter. 
When we are dried up, with inward grief, God comforts us; 
distils a dew which revives ; and when ready to perish he 
strengthens us. How often have you found it so in your 
closets when your hearts were surcharged with grief — not a 
word was uttered — you groaned — then God appeared — 
light burst in — refreshing influence ! Then the sluices open- 
ed ; you could then pray, and went forth blessed. — Is it not 
so in the assembly also ? See that orphan, that widow, 
that prodigal dissolved in tears. To communicate happi- 
ness God is present : " God will dwell among them." 
For what purpose ? " He will wipe away all tears from 
their eyes." 

Ill, These manifestations of the Divine presence consti- 
tute the glory of the Church. 

What was the Temple without it ? No sacred fire then — 
a solitude ; no show of truth, holiness, or happiness. Ap- 
ply this. — What made the second temple more glorious 
than the first ? "I will fill this house with glory, saith the 
Lord of Hosts." And how is this house filled with glory? 
It is not in the altar, the shew-bread, the ark, or the manna, 
but the internal operation of Jesus' presence walking among 
the candlesticks, trimming them, &c. ; when Christ cruci- 
fied is the minister's theme : " God forbid that I should 
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Every 



PRAY FOR THE PEACE OP JERUSALEM. 217 

other doctrine bears on this. Learning may aid, eloquence 
may be powerful, moral virtue may please some ; but what 
will convince, convert, save ? The preaching of the cross 
only — it is the power of God! Many may say, "If thou 
hadst been here, my brethren had not, our congregations 
had not, died." When this is absent the glory is departed. 
Our glory is the exhibition of Jesus Christ.— Ichabod. 
IV. " Over all this glory shall be a defence." 
The point is, this glory is its own defence ; persecution 
may come, but not destruction—where Jesus is, cannot be 
consumed — the bush — the Jewish temple. — While the She- 
<minah is there, all is right — not a stone removed; but 
when, "Let us depart," &c. ■! The Asiatic churches — now 
the crescent waves ! While the Church walks in truth and 
the love of Jesus, it cannot be hurt. True, it has often been 
persecuted. Mangled victims., &c But destroyed ? No ; 
the time came, &c. Safe was the ark ; the pilot with us, &c. 
Appeal. — You are living in the splendour of the Shechi- 
nah. Jesus is set for the falling- and rising of many in Is- 
rael. Believers, faith alone can change you from glory to 
glory ; live for a higher manifestation ; walk worthy of the 
vocation wherewith you are called. # # # 



SERMON XXXIV. 

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. 

PREACHED DURING THE SESSION OF CONFERENCE. 

Psalm cxxii., 6. — Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper that love thee 

David's zeal for the glory of God. " One thing have 
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I maj 
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, tc 
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his tem- 
ple." This zeal has embalmed his memory — example to 
Solomon. — God long lingered his judgments upon Judah for 
David's sake. " Is any left of the house of David?" * * 
'Mephibosheth.) 

19 E e 



218 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. 

David a model to us. Live we not too much to our- 
selves ? — enlarged spirit of Christianity — Jerusalem which is 
above is yet with us — David's greater Son therein. — Pray 
for this Jerusalem. ####.* 

I. The nature of the good contemplated. 
II. The means of attainment proposed* 
III. The motive to this expressed. 

I. The nature of the good contemplated. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem — primarily Jerusalem in 
Palestine — but we, for the spiritual prosperity of the Church. 
Wherein does it consist ? — Prosperity is the word, not peace 
only ; the original means more. 

1. Not merely increase of numbers, although this is de- 
sirable, else the walls not raised. But this is no sign of 
piety. — Rome. — Constantine. 

2. Nor in worldly honour — 'tis to be desired — yet this is 
not the glory. — Perhaps the Church was purest when poor- 
est. " Not many mighty, not many noble are called." 

You know what a church is. We look at it internally ; 
its prosperity is then seen. 

First. In its spirituality. — All glorious within — fruit of the 
heart — an Israelite indeed. — That church is most prosperous 
wherein is most fruit— orchard — " Herein is my Father 
glorified, that ye bear much fruit." 

1. I refer to the character of the ministry in the spiritual- 
ity of the Church — under the influence of the Holy Spirit — 
not in a nice selection of subjects. The ministry ought to 
be dealers of bread "for instruction in righteousness." 
Awful responsibility ! The burden of the Lord ! — often 
they sigh in secret. Their zeal is a fire from a beam of the 
Son of Righteousness — their lips a live coal — an influence 
unseen by mortals — they are a medium for God to exert his 
power in — the minister' an organ of God I *" * # 
2. I refer to spirituality in the people. You must come 
not to be amused. It is when the minister is under the in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit, and with a praying people — then, 
&c, &c. 



PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. 219 

Secondly. The prosperity of the Church is seen in its pu- 
rity — in discipline. — In admission and exclusion we must 
know no man after the flesh — neither father nor mother. 
These are subjects for prayer ! " Pray for the p?ace of Je- 
rusalem." — Laxity of discipline is awful ! — (Miller's anecdote 
of Wesley.) — On admission he ought to show that he is flee- 
ing the wrath to come. * * * None should be kept in who 
are immoral — no poor man — no rich man ; no partiality 
should be shown to the rich ! — inflexible moral discipline. 
Then our ministers and people will be examples in moral 
practice also ; and then the minister can say, " Ye are our 
epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." 

Thirdly. Our prosperity is evidenced by unity and har- 
mony. Satan tries to destroy this — " By this shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to an- 
other." (Contention — gladiator-like !— the arena of the 
Church.) Love! makes the church a family circle — sympa- 
thy, tenderness, forbearance, golden words of kindness ! 
love ! love ! spreads from one to another. It is the atmo- 
sphere over the Church. Angels come to breathe in it, and 
God dwells in it. " God is love." 

Fourthly. Multiplication and extension. The Church is 
not to remain stationary. — This mark is evidently among 
us — pause here — reflect on it I 

Our quantum of spirituality is unknown to us ; yet my all 
depends on my spirituality — yours also. Do you feel alive in 
the closet ? — (Moses' face) — family prayer, &c. * * 

We have the evidence of purity among us, in practice and 
discipline — may we go on in this ! "Which of you convin- 
ceth us of sin?" Not that we are perfect. — Achan — Ana- 
nias and Sapphira — Judas, &c, &c. There may be many 
whom discipline may not touch. Sin is bad — but a million 
times worse to commit sin in the Church. Quit sin, or quit 
us ; we want a holy Church. 

We have the evidence of harmony among us. True, there 
may be at times a jar ; earth is not heaven ; yet we do love 
one another ; we have your hearts, and you have ours ; thus 
we are labourers together, and God is with us. 

We have the evidence of extension. We do not magnify 



220 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. 

ourselves — we should hate ourselves if capable of it — but we 
lay all at the feet of Jesus ! Yet we can say, " Ye are our 
children." If these walls could speak, " the stone would cry 
out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber would answer 
it ;" yea, if angels could speak out here, they would say of 
this and that man that they were born here. Rejoice, then, 
and shout for joy. Yet these are but the beginning of good 
days. Then pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

II. The means of attainment proposed. 

Prayer. I cannot express my feelings on this — " Paul 
may plant, Apollos water, but God alone giveth the in- 
crease." It is a first principle that all good is from God. 
Your preachers can do nothing. " Brethren, pray for us." 
We entreat you, pray, &c, not for our comfort, &c, but our 
usefulness. 

Remember, you must love Zion. " They shall prosper 
that love her." Prayer is only the effect of this. And not 
only are you to pray, but you are to exert yourselves : <{ I 
will seek thy good." Christianity has no dead members ; all 
my means, talents, influence, &c, must be employed. 

III. The motive. 

This brings the matter to a point. " My leanness, my 
leanness ;" and why ? You long to feel better, to handle 
the word of life, &c. But " when I attempt to rise I am 
beaten back." This is the reason, " I have not loved Zion 
more." Many lose sight of their connexion with Zion as 
a body ; if so, you will never prosper in your own souls. 
It is as easy to prove it as the Divinity of Jesus ! Am I 
to live for myself only, or my family ? No ; for the whole 
world. 

You may not, perhaps, prosper in the world — the Holy 
Ghost did not mean this in the text. God looks for the oth- 
er world. But, if devoted to the prosperity of Zion, God 
will direct all the streams of the Church for my good. His 
angels are charged with the care of me ; his finger will lead 
me, and point me out to the heavenly host. 

Application. — Let us now pray and believe for the coming 
year. — " Lord, revive thy work." 



O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 221 

Pray for your ministers ; they are the medium of God for 
knowledge and holiness to his Church. * * * I know you 
love them ; but have you prayed enough for them ? We 
must live in your hearts. — I shall die otherwise. * * 



SERMON XXXV. 

O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 

Job, xxiii., 3, 4. — that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even 
to his seat ! 

I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 

Many opinions on this book ; probably the most ancient ? 
and certainly the noblest composition in the world. Some 
think the author Solomon, from the uncommon grandeur of 
the style, &c. Others, though with little probability, Ezra. 
The current opinion is in favour of Moses, while keeping 
Jethro's flock, and designed as a word of consolation to his 
Hebrew brethren then suffering in Egypt- — a drama. * * * 
Job's friends contend that great afflictions are certainly the 
wages of great sinners, &c. They entirely mistake his case 
and character. Job contends for his innocence ; but, fail- 
ing to convince them, he inquires where he shall find the 
Lord as his Judge. " O that I knew where I might find 
him ! that I might come even to his seat ! I would order 
my cause before him ; I would fill my mouth with argu- 
ments." 

As these words are often the language of a penitent heart 
seeking the Saviour, Comforter, and Sanetiner, who wishes 
to come to his seat, &c, inquire, 

I. Who are the characters that employ this language ? It 
is language highly becoming every son of Adam ; all are 
morally distant from God ; yet how few employ it ! What 
will please my senses and increase my treasures is general ; 
but how few inquire, Where is God my Saviour ? Only 
these, 

1. The sinner under conviction. The light of heavenly 



222 O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 

truth has discovered to him his sins. He sees that God 
alone can save him, but he has provoked his Majesty. 
Hence he appears as one that hideth himself in darkness. 
In his distress the penitent hears, reads, prays, " I go for- 
ward, but he is not there ; and backward, but I cannot per- 
ceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I 
cannot behold him : he hideth himself on the right hand, 
that I cannot see him." Still, an intolerable load is press- 
ing him down, and he exclaims, " O that I knew where I 
might find him!" 

2. Believers in distress. Their piety, as Job's, gives no 
exemption from distress. But, besides the afflictions com- 
mon to others, there are times when temptation, persecu- 
tion, reproach, and the feelings of unsanctified nature, &c, 
during which they may deplore the absence of their Lord. 
Perhaps unbelief prevails, and they know not whither they 
should go. 

3. Penitent backsliders. As backsliders they are com- 
mon ; but, as penitent ones, rare. They have known God, 
but wickedly departed ; have walked in light, but "the light 
that was in them has become darkness." Once they were 
in the way to heaven, but now " their feet go down to death, 
and their steps take hold on hell." But mercy — and oh ! 
how great that mercy — has made them willing to return. 
But what reflections do they endure ? The clear light and 
bleeding love against which they have sinned ! the effect of 
their ungracious example ; the wound inflicted on the cause 
of God ; and especially their ingratitude to that God who 
found them in a waste howling wilderness — led, and fed, 
and bore them as on eagles' wings ! — u O that I knew where 
I might find him ! that I might come even to his seat ! I 
would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with 
arguments." These few characters we would assist. 

II. Point out where the Lord may be found. And where 
is it ? or, rather, where is he not? " If we ascend up to 
heaven, he is there ; if we make our bed in hell, behold, he 
is there." His centre is everywhere : " In Him we live, 
and move, and have our being." # # # 

1. In his works, as a God of power, In everything crea- 



O THAT I KNEW WHERE 1 MIGHT FIND HIM. 223 

ted does his presence appear. In every body, from the lar- 
gest celestial orb placed, &c, hanging, &c, moving, &c, 
to the smallest atom, invisible to the most powerful optic 
glass, and the existence of which is only shown by the power 
of elective attraction. In every agent in nature, from the 
gentlest breath of air that scarcely moves the leaf to the fu- 
rious hurricane that lashes the sea, &c, and tears the 
deep-rooted forest. " He rides upon the storm." From 
the latent spark of fire which lies hid in the flint, to the 
vivid lightning which glares with death, or the bursting vol- 
cano which shakes the earth with its thunder, darkens heaven 
with its smoke, desolates fruitful provinces with its lava, and 
threatens to burn the world. From the smallest particle of 
dew which glistens on a blade of grass, or hangs in the bell 
■of a flower, to the immeasurable ocean. 

He is present in every animal — the sportive shoals in their 
briny element ; the frantic-winged inhabitants of the air ; 
from the unwieldy elephant to the smallest mite. The earth, 
dressed in her verdure, proclaims the presence of God ; from 
the tallest cedar and the sturdiest oak, to the bending reed 
and the hyssop on the wall. But in nothing does his pres- 
ence more clearly appear, than in the structure of the hu- 
man body, and the powers of the mind. " Excellent is he 
in counsel, and wonderful in working." 

2. In Providence, as a God of wisdom and goodness — the 
Governor of all. He governs this wonderful fabric — not 
left to chance, # * * Every occurrence is an event of his 
Providence, and one of his footsteps, who ruleth over all, 
.and doeth all things as seemeth him good. The provision 
for man and beast ; his daily supply of all things living, with 
every morsel of food, portion of drink, drop of rain, and 
breath of air, of every degree of strength and measure of 
health, with all social comforts — all these manifest his wis- 
dom and his love. Nor less is he to be found in our af- 
flictions, losses, and disappointments— in the place and pe- 
riod of our birth — in our parents and their circumstances. 
In all the commotions and revolutions of the world, God is 
present, correcting, instructing, comforting, and so benefit- 
ing man. 

3. In the human breast, as a God of purity and justice — 



224 O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 

Judge of the ivorld. Conscience felt by all — infusing gall 
into their secret, their sweetest cup. * * ■* Now, this is 
God in his own tribunal, beginning that work which the last 
day will finish, and commencing that punishment which hell 
will continue, but eternity will not end. Yet from this very 
source, the believer, though conscious of many defects, cher- 
ishes more than a hope that he is God's — an inward assu- 
rance that he is such — the " testimony of his conscience." 
And this is the beginning of his heaven, the commencement 
of his final acquittal if he hold on his way — " if his heart 
condemn him not." #■##•*# 

4. In the ordinances of religion, as a God of Grace — the 
Saviour of men. This is the relation in which he most de- 
lights to be sought by men. It is this which is most inter- 
esting to sinners, and it is under this character that the per- 
sons formerly described are saying, " O that I knew where 
I might find him!" 

Now of these ordinances the first is the word of his grace. 
This reveals his being and unveils his character ; it shows 
his very heart through the wounds of his Son. Here he is 
found " the Lord, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and 
plenteous in mercy," saying, " Though your sins be as scar- 
let, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool." " I will blot out as a 
thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins." 
"I will heal all their backsliding." ""God is in Christy 
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
passes unto them ;" for " it is a faithful saying, and worthy 
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners." * * * * * * 

Here you find power omnipotent, and this power is to save. 
You have wisdom and goodness greater than in Providence ; 
and all to supply your wants. Here is purity and justice 
superior to that of the judgment to justify the ungodly, and 
the whole combining with mercy and love, and harmonizing 
in Christ. 

Wish you to find him ? Go to his word, and how will you- 
find him ? " Waiting to be gracious" — " stretching out his 
arms all day long !" Go to his word ; there you will meet 
him as a father running to embrace a lost child. 



THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 225 

We say again that he is to be found in his ordinances ; 
where his Gospel is preached, his people meet to pray, his 
saints are found discoursing of his goodness, and taking 
sweet counsel together, and where that love is commemora- 
ted which brought him from heaven to the cross. As he 
has appointed these, so he is present to enlighten, quicken, 
pardon, comfort, and save. 

But it is chiefly on the throne of Mercy that he is gra- 
ciously found. There, he is not only seen and heard, but 
felt and tasted — all invited — there he manifests himself as a 
sin-forgiving, soul-purifying God. Say you still, " O that I 
knew where I might find him !" 

Lo ! God is here ! and his works, his words, his Provi- 
dence, and grace are all designed to bring thee here ! Art 
thou sincere ? Canst thou believe ? Thou art at his seat ! 
Fill thy mouth with arguments. 

III. From what sources may you draw arguments ? 

1. From His power. What is thy request ? " Is anything 
too hard for the Lord ?" He has all power in heaven and 
on earth to create, destroy, or renew. To soften a hard 
heart, pardon a guilty soul, supply a needy mind, deliver an 
oppressed spirit, sanctify an unholy nature, is a small thing 
to him who speaks and it is done ; who is able to save to 
the uttermost ; who is exceeding abundant in grace and 
mercy. As this is small to him, yet great to thee, urge his 
power at the foot of his seat. Lord, all fulness is with thee 
— giving cannot impoverish. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst 
make me clean. 

2. From His goodness. His power is useless to thee with- 
out this. But goodness, pure benevolence, is a perfection 
of his nature, and infinite. # * * Good in himself, and in 
all his works and ways ; all the goodness of creatures, an- 
gels, and men is from him — good to all — the lower ani- 
mals — to rebels — how much more to a penitent drawn to his 
throne ! This goodness moves his power. * * * Plead his 
goodness. 

3. From His mercy. This is the name he has given 
himself as most suited to sinners ; an attribute he delights 
to display. It is this that has kept us out of hell. His 

F F 



226 O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM. 

mercy is greater than our sins ; high as the heavens ! Urge 
his mercy. 

4. From His truth. He swears he has no pleasure in the 
death of the wicked, while his promises are many and great. 
" Seek, and ye shall find ; ask, and ye shall receive." " He 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Can he lie ? 
or swear falsely ? " He is not a man, that he should lie ; 
neither the son of man, that he should repent : hath he said, 
and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not 
make it good ?" Plead in faith the word in which he caused 
you to put your trust. 

5. From His impartiality. He has been sought and found 
of the chief of sinners — David, Mary, Peter, Saul — three 
thousand, who had taken away his life. He is the parent of 
the great family. All his children are equally dear. As he 
is unchangeable in nature, so persons, times, and circum- 
stances produce no change in him. He is no respecter of 
persons. What an argument to plead at his seat ! 

6. From His justice. This appears to sinners stern, in- 
flexible, and severe ; and to penitents, awful and terri- 
ble. Yet we do not lament, but exult with gladness that 
he is just. For did Christ die for us ? did he meet the 
claims of justice, and pay our debt of suffering ? did he pur- 
chase a right to pardon, favour ? " He is faithful and just to 
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
ness." Plead, then, all that is in God, all that Christ has 
done, and all that you feel and fear. 

The end of our being, the preservation of our lives, the 
ordinances of religion, and our present meeting, is to find 
God. If we do not find him in mercy, he will find us in 
anger. Are there any saying, " O that I knew where 1 
might find him ?" In everything, in every place, but chiefly 
in Ms word, and always in and through Jesus Christ. The 
text is the language of, 

1. Sincere regret. 

2. Of restless desire. 

3. Of guilty fear. 

4. Of anxious inquiry. 

5. Of willing submission. 



THE PROGRESS OF VICE. 227 



SERMON XXXVI. 

THE PROGRESS OF VICE. 

2 Kings, viii., 13. — And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should 
do this great thing 1 ? 

I. Power and prosperity are dangerous, and calculated 
to stir up latent evil. 

Many, as they ascend the hill, lose their honesty and be- 
come consummate villains. — -The moderate tradesman was 
tender, kind ; but O ! the accumulation of wealth ! # # # 
servants change when they become masters. — Many are vir- 
tuous because never tried. # * * * 

II. Men commit crimes in later years which in early life 
they contemplated with dismay. So Hazael. * # 

In illustration : 

1. There are some sins which are calculated to startle ev- 
ery conscience that has any sensibility left. The want of love 
to God, &c, mentioned to an angel, would startle him ; but 
man stands coolly by. — * * * They are chiefly crimes affect- 
ing human society which affect us. — But let not these feel- 
ings be thought real religion. "We must go farther than 
this. True piety has immediate respect to God. Now 
analyze your feelings. Are you concerned that God's com- 
mandments should be contemned ? We are not necessari- 
ly pious because virtuous. 

2. So ignorant are many of their own characters, that they 
are often led to commit the very crimes which were formerly 
viewed with abhorrence. — Hazael. — Peter. — How ignorant 
of our weakness. — See the man recovering from sickness. 
[How earnestly did he promise amendment, but it was all 
in his own strength ; and how soon is he carried away into 
the same thoughtless and sinful career which he vowed to re- 
nounce.] I appeal to the drunkard whether he did not once 
abhor the intoxicating cup. See the young tradesman be- 
ginning business. [With what timidity and upbraidings of 



228 THE PROGRESS OF VICE. 

conscience does he commence his fraudulent practices. But 
mark how fast his conscience hardens, and how rapid his ca- 
reer in crime.] 

But see more criminal cases. The murderer once shrank 
at the very thought [of deeds of blood] ; but by little and 
little [he advanced in the path of crime, and now behold the 
result !] 

Let us endeavour to account for this. 

1. There was never the existence in these persons of that 
principle which is the basis of virtue. They were never re- 
generated — virtue will give way without religion. 

2. It is also accounted for by a consideration of the pro- 
gressive nature of evil : " Hardened through the deceitfulness 
of sin." Sin is the most specious thing in the world. Trace 
it in a young man tried first with minor sins. — Tempted 
again — finds less reluctance — is prepared to go a step far- 
ther — one sin requires another to conceal it — now joins evil 
society. — In the next stage we see him confirmed in the hab- 
it. Now he begins to lose a sense of shame ; before, he 
must have his veil and his mask ; [but now he has become 
a bold transgressor.] Conscience now despairs — it is seared 
— he has no accusings. The next step is the glorying in his 
shame ! [he is even ambitious to distinguish himself in 
crime !] The next step is that, having effected his own 
ruin, he seeks the ruin of others; like his father the devil, 
he goes about seeking whom he may devour ! 

Consider some of the practices which help him on. 

1. Idleness — stagnant water [sends forth its noxious ef- 
fluvia] — Satan says, " Why stand ye idle?" — " Be diligent 
in business." 

2. Sabbath-breaking. No single vice throws an individ- 
ual more in temptation's way. It is so open a violation [of 
order, decency, and the law of God, that he who is guilty of 
it cannot but ripen fast for ruin.] Beware of devoting this 
holy day to pleasure or business ! — The whole day is the 
Lord's !— 

3. Beware of evil company. " A companion of fools 
shall be destroyed." Sinners will do that in company 
which they would not do solitarily. — Trees grow fastest in a 



THE PROGRESS OF VICE. 229 

plantation. — United fires blaze strongest. — O ! what curses 
in hell against evil companions ! 

4. Infidelity is another means ; it is taken up to still the 
conscience. The Bible is against him, therefore he is 
against the Bible. — What is to restrain such an unchecked 
man ? Nothing ! 

5. Extravagance. This must have resources — whether in 
dress or dissipation. * * * * * 

Licensed gambling. May the nation wipe off the blot. — 
Tax us in any way to make up [what you gain by thus legal- 
izing iniquity]. It is a national example of crime. Nor is 
private gambling better. 

Application. — 1. Seek the possession of religion. No- 
thing but the fear of God will keep us. This is the begin- 
ning of wisdom. 

This principle must be imparted by God, for we have it 
not by nature. 

2. Beware of self-confidence. Do not say, " My principles 
so trench me that I am in no danger." No man is in more 
danger ! God punishes the lofty spirit by giving it up to 
itself. — All our strength is in God. 

3. Beware of the beginning of iniquity. — Do not come near 
the serpent's poisonous fang or the lion's fatal den — distance 
is safety — "Abstain from the appearance of evil." 

Look up to God by habits of daily prayer for safety. 
Should God then suffer us to be led into temptation, he will 
be with us, to see whether this world or the other is upper- 
most. — Of two evils, two sins, choose neither. — Suffer every- 
thing rather than offend God. — How glorious this ! How 
honourable to religion ! * * * * * 

20 



230 THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 



SERMON XXXVII. 

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 

2 Peter, i., 11. — For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the 
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Of all the causes which may be adduced to account for 
the indifference which is so generally manifested towards 
those great concerns of eternity in which they are so awfully 
interested, none appears to me so likely to resolve the mys- 
tery as that unbelief which lies at the core of every heart, 
hindering repentance, and so making faith impossible. Men 
hear that there is a hell to shun, a heaven to win ; and, 
though they give their assent to both these truths, they never 
impress them on their minds : it is plain that, whatever their 
lips may confess, they never believed with the heart, other- 
wise some effect would have been produced in the life ; the 
germ of unbelief lies within, and discovers itself in all that in- 
difference which is displayed in the majority of that class of 
beings whose existence is to be perpetuated through eter- 
nity in one or other of these states. * * 

If these thoughts do sometimes obtrude themselves on 
their serious attention, they are immediately banished from 
their minds ; and the dying exclamation of Moses may be 
taken up with tears by every lover of perishing sinners : 
" O ! that they were wise, that they understood this, that 
they would consider their latter end !" When God, by his 
prophet Isaiah, called the Israelites to a sense of their awful 
departure from him, his language is, " My people do not 
know: my people do not consider." How few are there 
like Mary, who ponder these things in their heart, who are 
willing to look at themselves, to pry into eternity, to put the 
question home, 

" Shall I be with the damn'd cast out, 
Or number'd with the bless'd?" 

This question must sooner or later have a place in your 
minds, or awful will be your state indeed ; let it reach your 



THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 231 

hearts to-day ; and if you pray to the Father of lights, you 
will soon be enabled in his light to discern so much of your- 
selves as will cause you to cry, "What shall I do to be 
saved?" While we shall this morning attempt to point out 
some of the privileges of the sons of God, O ! may your 
hearts catch the strong desire to be conformed to the living. 
Head, that so an abundant entrance may be ministered unto 
you also into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ. 

The privilege to which our text leads us is exclusively ap- 
plicable to those to whom that question has been solved by 
the Spirit of God ; those who have believed to the saving 
of their souls, who have experienced redemption through his 
blood, the forgiveness of sins, and are walking in the fear 
of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. 

I. The state to which we look forward : the "everlasting 
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour." 

1. It is a kingdom. By this figurative expression our 
Lord has described the state of grace here and of glory here- 
after ; our happiness in time and our happiness in eternity. 
They were wisely so called : Jesus has said as well as done 
all things well ; for these two states differ not in kind, but in 
degree ; the one is merely a preparative for the other, and 
he who has been a subject of the former kingdom will be a 
subject of the latter. Grace is but the seed of glory, glory 
is the maturity of grace ; grace is but the bud of glory, glory 
is grace full blown ; grace is but the blossom of glory, glory- 
is the ripe fruit of grace ; grace is but the infant of glory, 
glory is the perfection of grace. Hence our hymn beautiful- 
ly says, " The men of grace have found glory begun below," 
agreeing with our Lord's own words, " He that believeth 
hath everlasting life ;" he feels even here its glories begin- 
ning. — A foretaste of its bliss. 

Now the propriety with which these two states are called 
kingdoms is manifest from the analogy which might be traced 
between them and the model of a human sovereignty — two 
or three of the outlines of this model will be sufficient. 

In the idea of a kingdom is implied that in some part of 
its extent there is the residence of a sovereign; for this is 
essential to constitute it. Now in the kingdom of grace the 



232 THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 

heart of the believer is made the residence of the King In- 
visible ! " Know ye not that your body is the temple of the 
Holy Ghost which is in you ?" Such know what that prom- 
ise means, " I will dwell in them, and they shall be my peo- 
ple." St. Paul exultingly cries, "Christ liveth in me." 

Again, it is essential that the inhabitants of a kingdom be 
under the government of its laws. An empire without laws 
is no sovereignty at all ; it ceases to be such, for every in- 
habitant has an equal right to do that which seems good in 
his own eyes. Now the subjects of Christ's kingdom of grace 
are " not without law, but are under a law to Christ ;" they 
do his righteous will ! Lastly, it is essential that the subjects 
of a kingdom be under the protection of the presiding mon- 
arch, and that they repose their confidence in him. To the 
subjects of the kingdom of grace Christ imparts his kingly 
protection; this is their heritage: "No weapon formed 
against them shall prosper ;" nay, he imparts to them of his 
royal bounty, and they enjoy all the blessings of an inward 
heaven. 

But how great the perfection of the kingdom of glory men- 
tioned in our text ! Does he make these vile bodies his res- 
idence here ? How much more glorious is his temple above ! 
how splendid the court of heaven ! There, indeed, he fixes 
his throne, and they see him as he is. — Does he exercise his 
authority here, and rule his happy subjects by the law, the 
perfect law of love ? How much more in heaven ! he reigns 
there forever over them ; his government is there wholly by 
himself; he knows nothing of a rival there ; his rule is sole 
and perfect ; there they serve him day and night. — Are his 
subjects here partakers of his kingly bounty ? Much more in 
heaven ! He calls them to a participation of all the joys, the 
spiritual joys which are at his right hand, and the pleasures 
which are there for evermore. Yet, after all our descriptions 
of that glory, it is not yet revealed, and, therefore, inconceiv- 
able. But who would not hail such a Son of David ? who 
would not desire to be swayed by such a Prince of Peace ? 
Whose heart would not ascend with the affections of our 
poet, " O ! that with yonder sacred throng," &c. 

2. But it is an everlasting' kingdom ! Here it rises in the 
scale of comparison. Weigh the kingdoms of this world in 



THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 233 

this balance, and they are found wanting ; for on many we 
read their fatal history, and ere long we shall see them all 
branded with the writing of the Invisible Agent — " The 
kingdom is taken from thee, and given to a nation bringing 
forth the fruits thereof ;" "For the kingdoms of this world 
have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;" 
they will be all absorbed and swallowed up in the fulness of 
eternity, and leave not a wreck behind !— Everything here 
is perishable ! The towering diadem of Caesar has fallen 
from his head and crumbled into dust ; and that kingdom 
whose sceptre once swayed the world, betwixt whose colos- 
sal stride all nations were glad to creep to find themselves 
dishonoured graves, is now forgotten ; or, if its recollection 
be preserved, its history is emphatically called " The De- 
cline and Fall." 

But bring the matter nearer home ; apply not to multi- 
tudes of subjects, but to your individual experience, and 
has not that good Teacher instructed you in this sad lesson ? 
We tremble to look at our earthly possessions and enjoy- 
ments, lest we should see them in motion, spreading their 
wings to flee away ! How many are there already who, in 
talking of their comforts, are obliged to go back in their reck- 
oning ! Would not this be the language of some of you — ■ 
"Yhad — I had a husband, the sharer of my joys, the soother 
of my sorrows ; but he is not ! I had a wife, a helpmeet 
for me ; but where is she ? I had children to whom I look- 
ed up as my support and staff in the decline of life, while 
passing down the hill ; but I am bereaved of my children ! 
I had health, and I highly prized its worth ; but now my 
emaciated frame, my shrivelled system, and the pains of na- 
ture bespeak that comfort fled ! I had, or fondly thought I 
had, happiness in possession ! Then T said with Job, " I 
shall die in my nest !" but ah ! an unexpected blast passed 
over me, and now my joys are blighted ! " They have fled 
as a shadow, and continued not." Yes ! time promised you 
much ! perhaps it performed a little ; but it cannot do any- 
thing for you on which it can grave eternal. Its name is 
mortal, its nature is decay ; it was born with man, and when 
the generations of men shall cease to exist it will cease also; 

Gg 



234 -THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 

"Time shall be no longer!" We know concerning these 
that " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 
flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but 
the word of the Lord endureth forever*" Yes ! his kingdom 
is an everlasting kingdom; glory cannot corrupt! the crown 
of glory cannot fade! Why? Death will be destroyed; 
Christ will put this last enemy under his feet, and all will then 
be eternal life ! Oh happy, happy kingdom ; nay. thrice 
happy he who shall be privileged to be its subject ! 

3. It is the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. It is his by claim : " Him hath God the Fa- 
ther highly exalted ;" yea, him hath he appointed to be "the 
Judge of quick and dead ;" for though " by the sufferings of 
death he was made a little lower than the angels*" yet im- 
mediately after his resurrection he declares that now " All 
power is given unto him in heaven and in earth !" The Fa- 
ther hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and he has 
now the disposal of the offices and privileges of the empire 
among his faithful followers. This is the idea that the pen- 
itent dying thief had on the subject : u Lord, remember me 
when thou comest into thy kingdom;" and St. Paul ex- 
presses the same when he says to Timothy in the confidence 
of faith, " The Lord shall deliver me and preserve me unto 
his heavenly kingdom." Oh ! how pleasing the thought to 
the child of God, that his ruler to all eternity will be his 
elder Brother ; for he who sanctifieth and they who are sanc- 
tified are all of one ; and though he is heir of all things, yet 
we, as younger branches of the same heavenly family, shall 
be joint-heirs, fellow-heirs of the same glorious inheritance. 
How great will be our joy to behold him who humbled him- 
self for us to death, even the death of the cross, now exalted 
God over all, blessed for evermore ; and while contempla- 
ting him under the character of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, how great the relish which will be given to that feel- 
ing of the redeemed which will constrain them to cry, " Thou 
alone art worthy to receive glory, and honour, and power." 
II. But the apostle reminds us of the entrance into this 
kingdom ! 

1. The entrance into this kingdom is death : "By one 
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin :" 



THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 235 

" Death like a narrow sea divides 
That heavenly land from ours!" 

"A messenger is sent to bring us to God, but it is the King 
of Terrors. We enter the land flowing with milk and hon- 
ey, but it is through the valley of the shadow of death." 
Yet fear not, oh thou child of God ! there is no need that 
thou, through fear of death, shouldst be all thy lifetime sub- 
ject to bondage. 2. No: hear the apostle : the entrance is 
ministered unto thee ! Death is but his minister ; he cannot 
lock his ice-cold hand in thine till He permit. Our Jesus 
has the keys of hell and of death, and till he liberates the 
vassal to bring thee home, not a hair of thy head can fall to 
the ground ! Fear not, thou worm ! he who minds the spar- 
rows appoints the time for thy removal : fear not ; only be 
thou always ready, that, whenever the messenger comes to 
take down the tabernacle in which thy spirit has long made 
her abode, thou mayst be able to exclaim, " Amen ! even 
so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" Death need have no ter- 
rors for thee ; he is the vassal of thy Lord, and, however un- 
willing to do him reverence, yet to him who sits at God's 
right hand shall even death pay, if not a joyful, yet a trem- 
bling homage ; nay, more : 

" To him shall earth and hell submit, 
And every foe shall fall, 
Till death expires beneath his feet, 
And God is all in all." 

Christ has already had one triumph over death ; his iron 
fangs could not detain the Prince who has " life in himself ;" 
and in his strength thou shalt triumph, for the power of 
Christ is promised to rest upon thee ! He has had the same 
entrance ; his footsteps marked the way, and his cry to thee 
is, "Follow thou me." " My sheep," says he, "hear my 
voice, and they do follow me ;" they follow me gladly, even 
into this gloomy vale ; and what is the consequence ? " They 
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of 
my hand." 

3. It is ministered unto you abundantly. Perhaps the 
apostle means that the death of some is distinguished by in- 
dulgences and honours not vouchsafed to all. In the expe- 



236 THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 

rience of some, the passage appears difficult ; in others it is 
comparatively easy ; they gently fall asleep in Jesus. — But 
we not only see diversities in the mortal agony — this would 
be a small thing. * * * Some get in with sails full spread 
and carrying a rich cargo indeed, while others arrive barely 
on a single plank. Some, who have long had their con- 
versation in heaven, are anxious to be wafted into the celes- 
tial haven; while others, who never sought God till alarmed 
at the speedy approach of death, have little confidence, 

" And linger shivering on the brink, 
And fear to launch away." 

This doctrine must have been peculiarly encouraging to 
the early converts to whom St. Peter wrote. From the ten- 
our of both his epistles it is clear that they were in a state of 
severe suffering, and in great danger of apostatizing through 
fear of persecution. He reminds them that if they hold fast 
their profession, an abundant entrance will be ministered 
unto them. The death of the martyr is far more glorious 
than that of the Christian who concealed his profession 
through fear of man. Witness the case of Stephen : he was 
not ashamed of bein^ a witness for Jesus in the face of the 
violent death which awaited him, and which crushed the 
tabernacle of his devoted spirit ; his Lord reserved the high- 
est display of his love and of his glory for that awful hour ! 
" Behold !" says he to his enemies while gnashing on him 
with their teeth, " behold ! I see heaven opened and the Son 
of man standing on the right hand of God :" then, in the full 
triumph of faith, he cries out, "Lord Jesus! receive my 
spirit !" 

But did these things apply merely to the believers to 
whom St. Peter originally wrote ? No ; you are the men to 
whom they equally apply — according to your Avalk and 
profession of that Gospel will be the entrance which will be 
ministered unto you. Some of you have heard in another of 
our houses during the past week the dangerous tendency of 
the spirit of fear, the fear of man. I would you had all 
heard that discourse ; alas ! many who have a name and a 
place among us are becoming mere Sabbath-day worshippers 
in the courts of the Lord, and lightly esteem the daily means 



THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 237 

3f grace. I believe this is one cause at least why many 
are weak and sickly among us in Divine things. The inner 
man does not make due increase ; the world is stealing a 
march unawares upon us : may God revive among us the 
spirit of our fathers. 

These things, then, I say, equally apply to you. Behold 
the strait, the royal, the king's highway ! Are you afraid of 
the reproach of Christ ? 

" Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend, 
On whom your hopes of heaven depend?" 

How soon would the world be overcome if all who profess 
that faith were faithful to it ! Wo to the rebellious children 
who compromise truth with the world, and in effect deny their 
Lord and Master ! — -Who hath required this at their hands ? 
Do they not follow with the crowd who cry " Lord ! Lord! 
and yet do not the things which he says." Will they have 
the adoption and the glory ? Will they aim at the honour 
implied in these words, " Ye are my witnesses." Will ye 
indeed be sons ? then see the path wherein his footsteps 
shine ! The way is open ! see that ye walk therein ! The 
false apostles, the deceitful workers, shall have their reward ; 
the same that those of old had, the praise and esteem of 
men ; while the faith of those who truly call him Father and 
Lord, and who walk in the light as he is in the light, who 
submit, like him and his true followers, to be counted as 
" the filth of the world and the offscouring of all things," 
shall be found unto praise, and honour, and glory ! 

The true Christian does not seek to hide himself in a cor- 
ner ; he lets his light shine before men, whether they will 
receive it or not ; and thereby is his Father glorified. [Hav- 
ing thus served his generation, by the will of God the hour 
of his departure at length arrives.] Then angels beckon him 
away ; Jesus bids him come ; and as he departs this life he 
looks back with a heavenly smile on surviving friends, and 
is enabled to say, " Whither I go ye know, and the way ye 
know." An entrance is ministered unto him abundantly 
into the everlasting kingdom of his Lord and Saviour. 

III. Having considered the state to which we look, and 
the mode of our admission, let us consider the condition of 



238 THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 

it. This is implied in the word " £0." For so an entrance 
shall be ministered unto you. In the preceding part of this 
chapter, the apostle has pointed out the meaning of this ex- 
pression, and in the text merely sums it all up in that short 
mode of expression. 

The first condition he shows to the obtaining like precious 
faith with him, through the righteousness of God and our 
Saviour Jesus Christ. Not a faith which merely assents to 
the truth of the Gospel record, but a faith which applies the 
merits of the death of Christ to expiate my individual guilt ; 
which lays hold on him as my sacrifice, and produces, in its 
exercise, peace with God, a knowledge of the Divine favour 
— a sense of sins forgiven, and a full certainty arising from 
a Divine impression on the heart made by the Spirit of 
God, that I am accepted in the beloved and made a child 
of God ! 

If those who profess the Gospel of Christ were but half as 
zealous in seeking after this enjoyment as they are in dis- 
covering creaturely objections to its attainment, it would be 
enjoyed by thousands who at present know nothing of its 
happy reality. Such persons, unfortunately for themselves, 
employ much more assiduity in searching a vocabulary to 
find out epithets of reproach to attach to those who maintain 
the doctrine, than in searching that volume which declares 
that " If you are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father," and " that he 
that belie veth hath the witness in himself." In whatever 
light the scorner may view this doctrine now, a time will 
come when, being found without the wedding-garment, he 
will be cast into outer darkness. * * 

O sinner ! cry to God this day to convince thee of thy need 
of this salvation, and then thou wilt be in a condition to re- 
ceive it. 

" Shalt know, shalt feel thy sins forgiven, 
Bless'd with this antepast of heaven." 

But, besides this, the apostle requires that we then hence- 
forth preserve consciences void of offence towards God and 
towards man. This faith which obtains the forgiveness of 



THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 239 

sin unites to Christ, and by this union we are made, as St. 
Peter declares, " partakers of the Divine nature :" and as he 
who has called you is holy, so you are to be holy in all man- 
ner of conversation. For yours is a faith which not only casts 
out sin, but purifies the heart — the conscience having been 
once purged by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, you 
are not to suffer guilt to be again contracted ; for the salva- 
tion of Christ is not only from the penalty, but from the very 
stain of sin ; not only from its guilt, but from its pollu- 
tion ; not only from its condemnation, but from its very 
inbeing : " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all 
sin ;" and " For this purpose was the Son of God manifest- 
ed, that he might destroy the works of the devil." You are 
therefore required by St. Peter " to escape the corruption 
that is in the world through lust," and thus to perfect holi- 
ness in the fear of the Lord ! 

Finally, live in progressive and practical Godliness. Not 
only possess, but practise the virtues of religion ; not only 
practise, but increase therein, abounding in the work of the 
Lord ! Lead up hand in hand in the same delightful cho- 
rus all the graces which adorn the Christian character ; hav- 
ing the Divine nature, possessing a new and living principle, 
let diligent exercise reduce it to practical holiness, and you 
will be easily discerned from those formal hypocrites whose 
faith and religion are but a barren and unfruitful specula- 
tion. 

To conclude: live to God—- live for God — live in God ; 
and let your moderation be known unto all men — the Lord 
is at hand : " Therefore, giving all diligence, add to your 
faith virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, 
temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to patience, 
godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to 
brotherly kindness., charity." 



240 A CHRISTIAN FEAST, 



SERMON XXXVIII. 

A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 

PREACHED AT EASTER FESTIVAL. 

Luke, xiv., 13-14. — When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the- 
lame, the blind : and thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee : for 
thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. 

To our thanksgivings for the resurrection of Christ we 
should unite the performance of such works as shall have 
recompense at the resurrection of the just. — In our text, 
also, the resurrection and charity are joined. * 

7»* ^Jf* TrE* ^s» ^F "/P ^r 7v 

Narrate the history of these words. — Our Lord had been 
reflected on for eating with publicans. — Now he accepts the 
invitation of one of the chief Pharisees — they watched hirr 
— the bait likely to take was healing a dropsy — but it wa-b 
the Sabbath. Jesus asked them, " Which of you shall have 
an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway 
pull him out on the Sabbath-day ?" but they could not an- 
swer him. #*#■#*# 
*.#.#,#' & * . *.'. . # 

Now, though they had spoiled the grace of the enter- 
tainment by making his table a snare, &c, yet he would 
turn it to a spiritual entertainment ; not forbidding their 
feasts, but regulating them. When he marked how " they 
chose out the chief rooms," he took occasion to inculcate 
a lesson of humility : " When thou art bidden of any man 
to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room ; lest a 
more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and 
he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give 
this man place : and thou begin with shame to take the 
lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down 
in the lowest room ; that when he that bade thee com- 
eth, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher : then 
shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit 



A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 241 

at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be 
abased ; and he that humble th himself shall be exalted." 

Having preached humility, he goes on to show a still more 
excellent way — charity. Observing the guests to be friends, 
relatives, and rich neighbours, he tells his host (not forbid- 
ding this mutual kindness between relatives, but reminding 
him that there may be no virtue, no charity in this), instead 
of the rich, call the poor ; instead of kindred, call the needy 
strangers ; instead of friends and neighbours who do not 
need a meal from thee, and can afford thee as good cheer 
in return — instead of these, " call the poor, the maimed, the 
lame, the blind;" such as cannot repay thee ! That is 
hospitality of the noblest kind : it is perfect charity, and 
shall be " recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 

(To-morrow is the feast-day of " Thanksgiving," and this 
evening is the preparation. " Provide those things necessa- 
ry, and give something to the poor." (The first you have 
already done.) See how our Lord again connects these 
two things in the text. — But have I said this in reference to 
to-morrow? To-morrow is not thine ! " What thou doest, 
do quickly.") 

I. A general precept for almsdeeds : " A charge to 
them that are rich" — spoken to all through the Master of 
the house. 

II. The precept is mixed with counsel and advice as to 
the manner, measure, rules of proportion, and decency in 
alms — with our own hands, diligently, cheerfully, plentiful- 
ly — openly sometimes, secretly at others — and with conde- 
scending kindness ; such good nature as is implied in, " When 
thou makest a feast," &c. 

III. The objects — the poor indeed — the really helpless. 

IV. The inducement and motive : " At the resurrection 
of the just" 

I. A general precept for almsdeeds. 
The providence of God expects that you shall look from 
your high and slippery places on those who, lying at your 
21 H h 



242 A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 

feet, can fall no lower. So varied are God's dispensations, 
that " many a hired servant in our Father's house has bread 
enough, and to spare," while many a son, and he not always 
a prodigal, is ready to perish with hunger. And though Da- 
vid "never saw the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging 
their bread," yet many are very abject ; for an equality of 
condition can never be expected in this world : " The poor 
shall never cease out of the land." God has herein provi- 
ded you, I will not say with hewers of wood, but with means 
of spiritual improvement ; for, " Whensoever ye will, ye 
may do them good." Yet a little while, and many of these 
Lazaruses will be received into the heavenly mansion, 
though here " no man cared for their souls." If the beggar 
act his part well on this great stage, he shall go off with as 
loud a plaudit as Lazarus ; and if the poor be not the pious 
man, yet God makes us his instruments of relief. 

Nor is this left to our choice ; it is a command : " Charge 
them that are rich in this world that they be ready to give, 
glad to distribute ; laying up in store for themselves a good 
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold 
on eternal life." 

Hence among the Jews the form of asking relief was, 
" Give me, as God has appointed or bidden you to do." 
Although it may not mean we are to do this at all times, yet 
it means much. 

First. Our Lord would have us get the habit of charity ; 
and this can only be attained by frequent acts of benevo- 
lence. If we give not willingly, constantly, or, at least, very 
frequently, we have still to learn and seek this habit of char- 
ity ; for a habit is when we have gained the point upon our- 
selves, to work as we ought with little or no difficulty. 

Secondly. Some extraordinary object of compassion may 
lie so heavily on the conscience, as to destroy the vital prin- 
ciple of grace if we turn our face away from its call. The 
priest and Levite were both condemned by Jesus, as if they 
had been accessories in killing the wounded man : nay, 
principals also. 

Thirdly. A vehement affectuous setting the heart on earth 
is a state of sin and death ; and though conscience may 



A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 243 

plead not guilty to any gross wickedness, yet it is adjudged 
that, " Where your treasure is, there will your heart be 
also !" What is enough, then, to bestow, if there be dan- 
ger in doing little ? All you can spare from your own re- 
quirements ? That will not advance us one step ; it is only 
raising another objection. What is a superabundance to 
some is scarcely a competence to others in different circum- 
stances. No bounds can be assigned. * * * Christian 
prudence ; that is, well-guided piety or conscience wisely 
directed. Paul goes not much farther : he would have set 
times for pious uses, and these so near together as to keep 
the trade of charity active. " Upon the first day of the 
week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath 
prospered him." When he comes to specify the sum, he 
says not one tenth or one twentieth, but " as God hath pros- 
pered you." 

If it should be said this duty is so ill defined that it is dif- 
ficult to know when our righteousness exceeds that of those 
who " shall by no means enter into the kingdom," instead 
of disputing, fall to practising and abounding in the work of 
the Lord ; this is to take the safe and high way to heaven.* 

II. The precept is mixed with counsel and advice as to 
the manner, measure, rules of proportion, and decency in 
alms, &c. 

This differs much from that other saying, " Sell that thou 
hast, and give to the poor." But it is plain that this was 
never proposed by Christ to but one, and his case was sin- 
gular. — Our Lord saw that he was as worldly as he was 
wealthy, and that it was necessary for his salvation to part 
him and his great possessions. Good amends would have 
been made him — the privilege of becoming a peculiar fol- 
lower of Jesus, and, perhaps, the power of working mira- 
cles. But the generality of mankind are left free. He who 
lied to the Holy Ghost was told, " The land was in thine 
own power." And of those who sold all it was said, " Great 
grace was on them all." 

In the text our Lord does not limit the Pharisee in this 
matter, but implies that it is lawful for him to keep so much 

* Trapp, on " Charge them," &c. 



244 A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 

as would leave him in a condition of sometimes making a 
feast. I impose not on you the Formian law, which per- 
mitted the citizens of Rome, in the most flourishing state 
of their empire, to spend no more than a certain sum at a 
feast ; or the Sempronian law, which allowed no more for a 
marriage feast than would amount to a crown of the sun in 
the modern coin. But though it is not said, " Hitherto 
shalt thou go, and no farther" — for abundantly enough and 
to spare is allowed at a feast, as may be inferred from our 
Lord's own practice when He treated the multitude, and 
" they gathered up of the fragments that remained twelve 
baskets full" — yet there is danger when the rich only feast 
one another ; else the caution, " When thou shalt have eaten, 
and art full, then beware lest thou forget the Lord," never 
would have been given. — None are less likely to remember 
God than those who lie down upon beds of ivory. The 
first great festival we read of was when " Abraham made a 
great feast, the same day that Isaac was weaned" — no bet- 
ter man — no juster occasion — for it arose from gratitude to 
God — yet it ended in Abraham's sorrow and Ishmael's ban- 
ishment. 

If God declared by the prophet Isaiah that he was dis- 
pleased with the fasts of the Jews because they did not 
join alms with them, much more our feasts. Our Saviour 
indicates the way : " When thou makest a feast, call the 
poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind ;" that is, make one 
sometimes on purpose to solace and relieve them. We 
have here implied, 

1. A seasonable advice to those who have not the gener- 
osity to give, so long as they have the power to keep any- 
thing, but talk of bequeathing much when it is no longer 
their own ; thus tempting others to pray for their death. 

Jesus would have us do this before there is nothing left 
for us to do but to feast the worms. It is safer to have giv- 
en without power of revocation — (Mrs. Graham gave one 
tenth)— safer to distribute with your own hands than to trust 
to others — greater consolation to see the effects with your 
own eyes. " Grow not weary:" this implies always labour- 
ing at it — this is sowing — and sowing plentifully — it is lay- 



A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 245 

ing up " treasure where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, 
and where thieves cannot break through and steal." Send 
it before ! 

2. A carefulness for the poor — a double diligence ; first 
to find them out and invite them, then to receive and re- 
fresh them. This is so far from "turning away the face 
from the poor man," that it is rather travelling in quest of 
him : this is " considering the poor and needy" — laying out 
our thoughts upon them — sending out messengers as did old 
Tobit : "And when I saw abundance of meat," says he, 
" I said to my son, Go and bring what poor man soever 
thou shalt find out, of our brethren, who is mindful of the 
Lord." (Tobit, ii., 2.) 

3. To feast them means to relieve them plentifully—" to 
satisfy the soul of the hungry" — not a miser's feast. 

4. Again, if this cannot be done without some noise, en- 
dure it. Piety is at the present day driven into a corner, 
and charity has become a pusillanimous, a blushing thing. — 
" Let your light so shine before men that they may see your 
good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." 
All good works that are seen of men are not, therefore, dis- 
pleasing to God, but such whose motive only was this. Fi- 
nally, relieve them from this motive : they are the brethren 
of Christ. Show a cheerful countenance towards them, for 
" God loveth a cheerful giver." * * * 

III. The objects of our charity. 

This leads to a caution : the fit objects of charity are the 
poor indeed. We should not countenance idleness ; relief 
to such should be in the way of good counsel. — If this is 
lost, compulsion. " If any man will not work, neither let 
him eat." 

I commend those who have erected workhouses to furnish 
them with employ ; but, above all, the hospitals, dispensa- 
ries, orphan-houses, &c. 

Such poor as these our Saviour recommends; such as 
these are the wealth of a Christian corporation. When a 
cruel and covetous tyrant demanded of St. Lawrence the 
gold and silver arising from the great oblations of the altar 
where he ministered, he mustered up a vast number of poor 



246 A CHRISTIAN FEAST. 

saints, some without eyes, some whose arms were withered, 
others decrepit with age, or who had lost the use of their 
feet, and ranging all these miserable persons so that the 
Governor might have a full view of them : " Behold !" said 
he, " these are the church's hidden treasures !" 

IV. The inducement : " Thou shalt be recompensed at 
the resurrection of the just " 

So much greater the reward, the longer it is in coming. 
" They cannot recompense thee," but He that assuredly can 
infallibly will. This is placing charity on good security. — 
Savings' bank. — So the longer it is in, the better. Not 
that the charitable man goes without a blessing in this life. 
Job — " When the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and 
when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me." The poor 
have a special prerogative from God to bless ; and rich as 
Job was, he was highly pleased to receive their benedictions. 

Value them : their curse, too, is formidable — " Turn not 
away thine eye from the poor man when he crieth." Strange 
that an imprecation should be called a prayer ! Such a 
prayer as is turned into sin upon him that puts it up, yet re- 
ceived by God as a petition or charge against him that pro- 
vokes or extorts it. 

But see the blessings of him that considereth the poor : 
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble — even in this 
world ! 

But the strongest motive is in the text — the resurrection. 
Not merit Heaven — even martyrdom cannot be weighty 
enough to deserve an eternal weight of glory — as Paul reck- 
oned. 

Yet as " our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, 
work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but 
at those which are unseen ;" so, the doing good here, from 
Christian motives, will certainly obtain, though not merit, an 
abundant recompense. 

It is a stoical, or rather a chymical, an empirical divinity 
that, by making virtue its own reward, prepares a great dis- 
solvent to annihilate virtue itself. " Seeing it is a righteous 
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 24? 

you," &c. (and, since every poor man is not comforted, &c. ? 
'tis an argument for a day of recompense). " Verily, there 
is a reward for the righteous !" And this argument of the 
resurrection, were charity never so cold, is enough to raise 
it from the dead. If I heartily believe it, then let me act ac- 
cordingly. " Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon 
of Unrighteousness," &c. — This is the argument our Saviour 
uses. ##***#*■ 



SERMON XXXIX. 

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

A CHARITY SERMON. 
Matthew, xxii., 39. — Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

When religion degenerates then arise disputes on non-es- 
sential matters. So the Jews, instead of setting themselves 
to do the commandments, inquire which is the greatest. 
Some thought the law of sacrifices, some circumcision, oth- 
ers the Sabbath — and others the law of meats and washing. 
"When this famous question is proposed to Jesus, he answers, 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first 
and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two 
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Al- 
though there are certain duties which belong to ourselves, 
they are such as arise out of these. On this occasion I shall, 

I. Explain the second command. 
II. Enforce it. 

I. Explain, &c. 

1. Who is my neighbour ? 

This, too, was once proposed to Jesus. It is well for the 
world that he decided it. 

(1.) Some regulate their charities by local habitation : for 
a stranger, or one afar off, they have no compassion. Ye 



248 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

nutshells of charity, go to the good Samaritan, and learn 
that want of assistance is neighbourhood enough for him 
who loves another as himself. 

(2.) Some have a law of relationship. " What ! assist the 
heathen while I have poor relations ?" Yes ; perhaps the 
Samaritan had such also, for few persons have not ; yet he 
gave ; and Jesus says, " Go thou and do likewise." 

(3.) Others confine charity to their own nation. Not so the 
good Samaritan ! he saw in his fellow-man, whoever he 
might be, his brother and neighbour. 

(4.) Others to the same religious profession. Go to the 
catholic Samaritan ! whatever his creed, his heart was better 
than it. 

(5.) Many think themselves justified in excluding enemies. 
The Jews understood the word neighbour to signify " thy 
friend" " Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt 
love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy ; but I say unto 
you, love your enemies." — See the Samaritan: his enemy 
(the Jews and Samaritans regarded each other as enemies) 
was perishing — and here is the trial, yea, the triumph of his 
benevolence. " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he 
thirst, give him drink." — The priest and the Levite ! ! * * 

(6.) The last rule of exclusion is that which relates to char- 
acter. " Ah ! poor man, striped, wounded, and just ready 
to expire ! but, before I relieve you, I must know who and 
what you are ; whether industrious, sober, frugal, deserv- 
ing." Alas ! while you inquire, the sufferer is beyond your 
reach ! * # * True, in some cases, to prevent fraud, inves- 
tigation is proper ; but, in those of real and urgent calamity, 
the love of our neighbour requires no other recommendation 
than want and affliction. Even if notoriously vile, there is 
no plea for neglect : benevolence, under these circumstances, 
may often gain their souls ! 

Is the inquiry still urged, " Who is my neighbour ?" Ev- 
ery human being, without exception. " As ye have oppor- 
tunity, do good unto all men." See how this interpretation 
is illustrated in Scripture : " But I say unto you, love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT, 249 

persecute you ; that ye may be the children of your Father 
which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the 
-evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
the unjust." God our Saviour tasted death for every man 
— he preached to his murderers. : * * * * 

If redeeming love made the exclusions we make, where 
should we be ? In hell.; or, if in the ivorld, without God 
and without hope. " Be ye therefore perfect, as your Fa- 
ther in heaven is perfect." I am not, however, recommend- 
ing promiscuous and undistinguishing love, though we should 
have hearts and purses always ready for special and extra- 
ordinary cases. The general rule is, that our kindred take 
precedence of strangers, and that the household of faith be 
placed before the children of the wicked one, Christianity 
makes distinctions, but no exclusions. With these distinc- 
tions, every man is your neighbour, and you are bound to 
fulfil towards him the duties of love. 

2. What is my duty to my neighbour ? It includes, (1) 
The dispositions we are to cultivate and the conduct we 
-are to observe towards him in all the intercourse and trans- 
actions of ordinary life. The thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinth- 
ians admirably states these : " Charity suffer eth long" — -not 
for a time, but a long time — to the end ; "is kind;" " vaunt - 
■eth not itself;" does not act rashly ; is not violent, head- 
strong, precipitate ; "is not puffed up ;" humbles us in the 
dust, and prefers others ; " doth not behave itself unseem- 
ly ;" is not rude or willingly offensive ; " seeketh not her 
own" only, but the good of all ; " is not easily provoked ;" 
but easily is not in the original — love is not provocable ; 
"thinketh no evil;" neither thinks nor infers where none ap- 
pears; "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;" 
has no pleasure in the misfortunes or crimes of an adversary ; 
" beareth all things;" covers, as far as truth and a good 
conscience will allow, all failings and faults ; " believeth all 
things," or, where it cannot believe, hopes for extenuation; 
and, where there is no excuse, hopes God will give repent- 
ance ; finally, " endures all things." 

It includes (2), as already remarked, the benevolence we 
are to exercise towards our neighbour in distress ; because 

li 



250 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

$hen he is more particularly the object of regard and affec- 
tion. 

If the text were more obeyed there would be far less evil 
m the world ; it would be either removed or assuaged* 
How much might be done by sympathy ', [though actual relief 
were out of our power.] "Weep with those that weep." 
Mow much by appropriate advice and soothing conversation ; 
perhaps the sufferer's mind is depressed so as to paralyze his 
energies. How much by the communication of temporal sup- 
'plies, in measure to be restrained only by the want of means. 
These might sometimes be by gift or loan. Both are en- 
joined. " Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him 
that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." No meas- 
ure can be prescribed to love, but prudence will suggest. 
These rules also apply to those who can interest others, 
though they have not much means of their own. 
(3.) The endeavours we ought to make for the salvation of the 
soid. In this few can lay their hand on their heart and say, 
" As I have had opportunity, I have done good to all." 
Perhaps we have not prayed for our fellow-men, and yet no 
duty costs us less. " I exhort that supplications, prayers, 
intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men." Some 
of you have done this ; but have you also furnished them 
with religious instruction? Have you given personal ex- 
hortation, and invited them to the house of God ; furnished 
them with Bibles, tracts, books ? If your zeal has carried 
you thus far, have you had self-de7iial enough to reprove 
them for their sins ? Neglect here is almost universal. Do 
you remember that for this neglect God considers you as 
hating your neighbour ? " Thou shalt not hate thy brother 
in any wise : thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, 
and not suffer sin upon him." O ! let the time past suffice. 
There are other occasions of serving their eternal concerns 
by temporal means, but these are brought before you on our 
missionary and other occasions. 

3. What is the measure of duty to your neighbour ? "To 
love him as yourself." Self-love is thus lawful and excellent, 
and even necessary. It is not the disposition which leads 
wnregenerate man to gratify vicious appetites and passions. 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 251 

This is rather self-hatred. Nor that which leads us to grasp 
at all advantages, regardless of the consequences to others. 
This is selfishness. But that principle which is inseparable 
from our being- ; by which we are led to promote our own 
happiness, by avoiding evil and acquiring the greatest possi- 
ble amount of good. This is the measure for our neighbour. 
While avoiding everything that would injure him in body, 
family, property, reputation, seek to do him all the good 
you can, and do it in the way in which you would promote 
your own welfare. 

Now, how does a man love himself? 1. Tenderly and 
affectionately. Then so love your neighbour. "While help- 
ing him, never show sourness of countenance or use asperity 
of language. The pity that is affected consoles almost as 
much as the bounty. Your succour purchases no right to 
insult or reproach him. See Jesus : though often surround- 
ed by the vile, the most reproachful saying from his lips was, 
" Go and sin no more." 

2. Sincerely and ardently. This will make him prompt 
and diligent, in everything he thinks, for his good. " Say 
not unto him, go and come again, and to-morrow I will give, 
Vhen thou hast it by thee." To-morrow ? he may be dead, 
or change of circumstances may put it out of your power to 
benefit him, and thus the opportunity may be entirely lost. 
" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." 
The time is short. Our opportunities for doing, as for get- 
ting, good are precarious. Now is the accepted time. * * 

3. Patiently and perseveringly. So if we do not succeed 
by one means we try another, keeping on to life's end. — So 
do for your neighbour. Be not surprised if for good evil is 
sometimes received. — Expect, in some cases, to meet with 
ingratitude : in others bounty will be abused ; and some, 
especially spiritual, rejected and despised. But, if this 
oblige you to change the stream of your benevolence, let it 
flow in another channel ; see that it is not interrupted. Con- 
sider how varied the means which God employed with you, 
and consider Jesus with the Jews, after they had put him to 
death. " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the even- 



252 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

ing withhold not thy hand." " Be not weary in well- 
doing." 

Having thus explained the text, let us, 

II. Enforce it. In doing this, we make our appeal, 

1. To authority. His, who is Lord of all. Such, all are 
bound to obey Him who gave us being and opportunity of 
complying with his will, and means of doing so — and who 
can terminate that being, and require us at any moment to 
give up our accounts. If you are Christians, and sincerely 
say, " What wouldst thou have me to do in reference to my 
neighbour ?" this will have authority, " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour as thyself." — Lord, have mercy upon us, and in- 
cline our hearts to keep this law. # # # 

2. To example. Example is of two kinds. First. 
Those we are bound to imitate : these are strictly patterns 
for us. Secondly. Those which, though we are not obliged 
to follow, yet, for their excellence, are worthy of imitation. 
Of the first kind is our Lord. The epitome of his life is, 
" He went about doing good." Have the same mind, dis- 
position, in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. See his 
zeal for the soul's salvation, and compassion for its miseries 
— give ye them to eat. Behold him at the grave of Laza- 
rus. — He wept over Jerusalem ; and hear him on the cross : 
" Father, forgive them !" We do not say you can equal him. 
— Stop — do I forget myself? " Hereby perceive we the 
love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we 
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." If Christian 
benevolence require us to hazard our lives, we should do so. 
The first Christians did this ; their charity is proverbial ; 
their example is worthy of being copied — that of Jesus is 
obligatory. 

3. To the connexion and dependance which subsist be- 
tween us and our neighbour. We are parts of one and the 
same body, and each is expected to contribute to the gen- 
eral good. Who, from the king to the beggar, stands alone, 
or is independent of others ? He who acts solely in refer- 
ence to self forfeits the character of man, and should be ex- 
pelled from society. 

4. How much present pleasure arises from the exercise of 
this duty ! Who envies him that does not " rejoice with them 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 253 

that rejoice, and weep with them that weep?" It is deli- 
cious, God-like pleasure — the •perfection of delight ! " "When 
the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye 
saw me, it gave witness to me." This is present pleasure; 
and have we not present advantage too ? Is not charity a 
gain ? Return here is often a hundred fold. — Then, as 
your success increases, increase your charities — prosper for 
others ; then you have the secret of engaging God in your 
concerns ; he will bless and multiply the substance in which 
there is a portion set apart for his afflicted members. 

5. Advert to the future recompense of benevolence. — 
u When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of 
his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations ; 
and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd 
divideth his sheep from the goats : and he shall set the sheep 
on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of 
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world : for I was an hungered, and ye 
gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was 
a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : 
I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came 
unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, 
Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee ? or 
thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stran- 
ger, and took thee in ? or naked, and clothed thee ? or when 
saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee ? And 
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto 
you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall 
he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels : for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat : I 
was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, 
and ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not i 
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they 
also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hun- 
gered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in pris- 
22 



254 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

on, and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he answer 
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it 
not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." "What 
condescension in Jesus [thus to acknowledge the kindness 
shown to the least of his followers as done to himself]; what 
stupidity in us to need urging. I will not read the sentence 
of the others ; I hope better things of you. Hereafter be 
habitually disposed to do good to your neighbour. The eye 
of the judge is upon you. " Behold, I come quickly, and 
my reward is with me, to give every man according as his 
work shall be." 

In order that nothing material may be omitted that should 
be attended to on this general subject of love to man, I add, 
in conclusion, two observations. 

1. The love of our neighbour originates in, and is always 
connected with, the love of God. Moralists may write pret- 
tily, but a Christian minister treats the subject not as a moral 
virtue, but as a Christian grace. His business is to place it 
on the true foundation — the love of God. In no Gospel, 
scriptural, Christian sense, is it said you love your neighbour, 
if you do not first love God. You may do much to relieve 
man, but the Bible looks not for actions merely, but for prin- 
ciples — and these determine the action to be right or wrong. 
Though it is hard to say too much on the love of our neigh- 
bour, yet remember it is but the second commandment ; one 
law goes before it — the first and greatest. — May it be writ- 
ten on your hearts ! Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline 
our hearts to keep this law. #,#■-..#.'# 

2. That benevolence must not infringe upon justice. No 
man should give in alms what belongs to creditors. This is 
an act of injustice under the cloak of mercy. Owe no man 
anything but what you can pay ; justice goes before acts of 
generosity and mercy. (Urge the present charity.) * * * 
That you may give the more. — 

Put a guard on your expenses. Do not confound stations. 
The rich are not to live as the poor must live. God giveth 
us all things " richly to enjoy ;" yet think of the naked, the 
famished, and cut off superfluities ; minister less to personal 
enjoyment. 



THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCLOSED AND JUDGED. 255 

Devote some certain part of your income to God and the 
poor. Wesley's rule was, u Get all you can (honestly), save 
all you can, and give all you can. 5 ' Reckon your givings in 
proportion to your incomes. I commend those who give 
one tenth, and more so those who give one fifth : but there is 
no specific rule, only to lay by as God has prospered you. 

Let not your charities be too methodical. Though you 
may have stated pensioners, yet do not be callous to all 
others. Surely, love cannot be so regular as to make us 
masters of ourselves at all times. Oh no, it has its ardours 
and transports, &c. 

Lastly, I remind you, that the most proper objects are 
often those who are least willing to make known their dis- 
tresses. These are the deserving 1 poor ; they are sought out 
by this society : you cannot enter the garrets, &c, but these 
members will dispense your bounty. * # # 



SERMON XL, 

THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCLOSED AND JUDGED. 

Slomans, ii., 16. — In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus 

Christ, 

Three topics. 

I. The person who is the Judge. 
II. The subject of investigation. 
III. The rule by which the process will be conducted. 

I. The Judge. 

Take up the subject as a matter of pure revelation. * 

%#*#-#■## 

II. The subject of investigation. 

The angel with his uplifted hand swearing by Him that 
iiveth forever and ever that time shall loe no longer — the 
trump of God sounded — every receptacle of mortality thrown 
open — the Son of Man manifested in his glory — the sun be- 
come black before him — while he descends from heaven 
with a shout. #***## 



25(5 THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCLOSED AND JUDGED 

What more awfully grand ! "What a contrast between* 
the former humiliation of Jesus and this his exaltation ! 
Before him all shall be gathered. What a spectacle ! And 
for what assembled ? To swell a pageant ? No ; some as 
witnesses, some as criminals, some as rejoicing spirits, oth- 
ers as executioners ; all a personal part. 

"The secrets of men." No distinction. The kings of the 
earth on a level with their meanest subjects! — Opulence no 
longer powerful — poverty no longer obscure ; rich and poor 
meet together . — The judge cannot be perverted by bribes 
nor dazzled by rank. * * * * 

"The secrets of men" What a development ! We are 
not to bend this term to our accommodation ! All the se- 
crets shall then be brought up. — We enumerate four classes 
of secrets. 

1. Secrets of conduct. All those actions done under the 
cover of secrecy, and only known to God, angels, devils,, 
and our consciences ; those actions we concealed from 
friendship and from man — proclaimed on the housetop, &c. 
O how many secrets are now in progress in the world ! Se- 
crets of ambition, where the man is sacrificing all for it. 
Secrets of covetousness ; call them secrets of trade, if you 
like, but O ! there are many practices countenanced with 
them which cannot bear the light. How have you held back 
from the widow, and passed by the orphan, &c. 

Secrets of sensuality, — In darkness — not to be named in 
public. Look in your closets ; how have your consciences 
been contaminated* Secrets of envy : I cannot go into 
your closets ; but what has God seen there ! (Styles's Mys- 
terious Stranger.) This is not declamation. Such a stran- 
ger has been with thee, and in the day of judgment thou 
shalt find it to have been the Judge. 

2. Secrets of character. Character is formed by principle ; 
it is that which originates conduct. Now this can only be 
known to Him who searches the heart. I know not the 
springs of your conduct, nor the principles on which your 
character is formed. Though Jesus says we may know the 
tree by the fruit, yet there is not always a faithful corre- 
spondence between principles and practice*. How few seek 



THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCXOSED AND JUDGED. 257 

only the glory of God, &c. I appeal to the heart. O ! Self 
is a subtle principle. In private a man will blush at his own 
hypocrisy ; and Satan, helping him, may make him a self- 
deceiver. 

But every motive will then start up ! How many actions 
now under the garb of humility, will then be seen to have 
originated in pride ! How many blazoned deeds from self- 
love ! How many actions, which seemed under the motive 
of zeal to God, like those of Jehu [to have been prompted 
by interest] ! 

3. Secrets of inattention. Those parts of our conduct 
which are secret by inattention — a large portion of our ac- 
tions are thought to be venial, trifling, &c. " For every 
idle word which men shall speak they shall give account in 
the day of judgment." Locke and the card-players. # * * 
Our conduct is also marked by that stranger. .* * * O ! 
act under these impressions ! 

4. Secrets of influence. We are members one of anoth- 
er. We are always, when in society, doing either good or 
harm. Little do we know how many are they whose mor- 
als we have poisoned ! [or on whom we have in some way 
exerted an unhallowed influence]. In that day the author 
of blasphemous works will answer for all the evil he has 
done. 

At the same time, I know many secrets of prayer will 
then be found — many tears, &c. — but I believe the term 
secrets is here used in a forensic sense. 

Now this subject requires deep self-examination. O ! what 
secrets will this night conceal ! Perhaps some of you will 
commit sin to-night : " But remember, for all these things 
God will bring you into judgment." 

What will be the effects of this judgment ? 1. The shame 
of exposure ; and remember, sin is the subject of shame. 
No shame to be poor, sick, &c. What would you not give 
here to avoid exposure ? — If exposed, perhaps you change 
your abode. 2. Besides shame, &c. — blush, &c. — the ag- 
ony of remorse ; and to this, 3. The horror of despair. — 
" Some shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt." 

III. The rule by which the process will be conducted. 

Kk 



258 THE SECRETS OF MEN DISCLOSED AND JUDGED. 

" When God shall judge the secrets of men according to 
my Gospel." That is the Gospel I am commissioned to 
preach. 

1. This process will demonstrate the equity of the judg- 
ment ; for, if judged by works, no fallen creature could be 
justified. But " He that believeth not is condemned." 
If my character meet not the requirements of the Gospel, I 
am justly condemned. And shall we not become acquaint- 
ed with these requirements ?■ — -My ignorance of a statute law 
is no excuse. 

2. It will cover the sinner with the speechlessness of con- 
demnation. This is the agony of trouble. If he could 
only know that he is not the architect of his own prison- 
house, &c. — his own fire burns him. Now, has not the Gospel 
been fully preached to you ? I have nothing to do with oth- 
ers. Has not the Holy Ghost striven and conscience warn- 
ed ? You know God would have saved you a hundred times. 
Now, at the tribunal of Christ what will you say ? " I knew 
thee that thou wast a hard man, but I never knew that thou 
requirest repentance ?" You know it now, " I would have 
repented, but had not moral strength: I could not!" Can 
you say this ? Is not the Holy Ghost now striving ? Ah ! 
you will be speechless ! — then bound hand and foot, and 
cast into outer darkness. 

3. It cuts off the hope of farther mercy. There is but one 
plan of saving you. When the law cuts you down, you 
can fly to the Gospel; but when this is gone! " there re- 
maineth only a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery 
indignation" — " The wrath of the Lamb !" O ! remember, 
you and your preachers are all hastening upward. * * 
" We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." 
But how ? It may be with joy. 

" The arms of love that compass me 
Would all mankind embrace." 

Jesus now weeps — " O that thou wouldst know, at least in 
this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace, before 
they are forever hid from thine eyes!" Is he leaving this 
sanctuary with the mournful exclamation, " O that thou hadst 
known." Alas ! at midnight, perchance, death seizes upon 



THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 259 

thee ; then thou wilt cry, yea, roar. But thou shalt hear a 
voice issuing from the throne, " I have called, and thou hast 
refused : now will I laugh at thy calamity, and mock when 
thy fear cometh." O ! come ; we are now at the mercy- 
seat! And, Christians, be you watchful. "Cleanse thou 
me from secret faults."—" Then will an entrance be minis- 
tered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 



SERMON XLI. 

THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 

Philippians, iii., 21. — Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to sub- 
due all things unto himself. 

These words express the doctrine of the resurrection of 
the dead — the dead body — it is a peculiar doctrine, which 
never entered into the mind of man to conceive, that after 
the flesh was corrupted, it should rise again — it was only 
taught by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. — Job. — The 
heathen had no knowledge of it ; hence they looked on the 
sepulchre as the cemetery in which all their hopes were in- 
terred, and sorrowed as without hope. But life and immor- 
tality are brought to light by the Gospel ; it declares that 
Jesus Christ was and is the resurrection and the life. 

To heighten the idea, the apostle refers to our present 
state — "vile body" — original, humbled body! In many 
awful senses it is true. 

1. Humbled by the fall. (Refer to the original state of 
man.) " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die" — it was humbled that day. # # # * 

2. Humbled when God cut short the span of life. — See 
the patriarchs — but now how soon is the beautiful structure 
taken down. 

3. Because of the labours to which it is subjected. 

4. Because it is become the seat of sin — hence it is called 
flesh : "The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit 



260 THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 

against the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the 
other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." 
Again, Paul : "I keep my body under and bring it into sub- 
jection, lest that by any means when I have preached to 
others I myself should be a cast-away." 

5. Because it is a clog to the soul : " We groan in this 
tabernacle." 

6. Shall be humbled yet more by disease and death ; to 
this all must submit. — 

I. But the resurrection of the body ! This is pure revela- 
tion — heathens knew it not. The wisdom of Greece is 
made foolishness! — See them at Athens: "When Paul 
spake of the resurrection, they mocked" 

1. To reveal the certainty of this doctrine was one of the 
designs of our Lord in many of the miracles he wrought — 
these were to impress the mind, &c. Select the case of Laz- 
arus — it was to give some light on the resurrection. — Ex- 
amine it. — 

(1.) Raised by the immediate word of Christ : " Lazarus, 
come forth /" So it will be at the last. Christ shall speak 
from heaven ! — Awful ! — " Arise, ye dead, and come to 
judgment:" and "The dead shall hear the voice of the 
Son of God: and they that hear shall live." Powerful 
word ! 

(2.) He was raised in the presence of the wicked Jews. * * 
(3.) In his resurrection we see the reunion of a family, &c. 
So will it be at the last : no breach will then be existing — 
will be perfect and entire. 

2. But see the subject of the resurrection of the body 
with that of ChrisVs — the resurrection of Christ's was greater 
than that of Lazarus — he gave life to himself. In him was 
life — this is greater than for a living body to give life to an- 
other. In vain did the grave close on him — he had said the 
Son of man shall rise again on the third day — in vain the 
Roman guards- — the bands of iron, &c. It shows he had 
absolute power over death ; like Lazarus he came forth and 
stood before his disciples. 

3. Christ's was the first-fruits of them that rose — the first- 
fruits have been gathered, and Christ is now in heaven. — 



THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 261 

(See the first-fruits under the law.) The fact is indubitable 
— the wave-offering is now before the throne of God. 

4. It gave a new turn to their phraseology — death is now 
called sleep. — Stephen slept ; Jesus slept, and " They that 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." It is not disap- 
pointing — it intimates that to be absent from the body is to 
be present with the Lord. 

5. It was necessary for the full confirmation of Christ's 
victory over his enemies. The Son will come forward on 
the great white throne ! Him hath God appointed Judge 
of quick and dead. Every knee must bow to him— thou- 
sands have not yet done this. — Every persecutor, infidel, &c. 
(Sublime.) You who despise Jesus ! Domitian may erect 
his throne against the Lord and his anointed, but they shall 
own him Lord of all ! To him must every foe submit, &c. 

Objection : That the body is to be made out of the common 
mass of matter. No : it is the same body ; not indeed 
every particle, as the parings of nails — the cropping of hairs, 
&c. — but the same body. — The original of the word used to 
express it is "stand up" — resurrection. * * * If it were 
not the same body, there would be no similarity between 
Christ's resurrection and ours. — Those who rose at the death 
of Christ. — This leads us to that change which passed on 
them in addition to the resurrection, viz., the transforma- 
tion. 

II. The transformation of the body: "Who shall change 
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glori- 
ous body." The resurrection does not include this. Christ's 
body was not glorious before his death, (nor) between his 
death and resurrection in the fulness of glory. 

True, we see a great display of it on the Mount of Trans- 
figuration — the glory shone out as through the pores of the 
flesh ! — his raiment was glistering, &c. (describe). * # 

But his body was made fully glorious when he entered 
into the presence of his Father, and " sat down at the right 
hand of the Majesty on high." Of that glory we cannot 
conceive ! Moses, powerful as he was in prayer, could not 
be heard when he said, " Show me thy glory." (Sublime !) 
And he put him in the rock, covered him with his hand, 



262 THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 

passed by, and proclaimed his name, and Moses saw the 
back parts, the skirtings of the Lord ! It was quite as much 
as flesh and blood could bear (even though strengthened on 
purpose by the mighty power of God !) 

1. Now, if our bodies are thus to be changed like Christ's 
glorious body, what are the inferences? (1.) No more death ! 
" I am alive for evermore !" 

" Say live forever, wondrous King, 

Born to redeem and strong to save, 
Then ask the monster, where's thy sting] 
And where's thy victory, boasting grave 1" 

Courage then! (Not like Lucian !) The conflict is but 
once ! Support it ! You may sweat your last in the strug- 
gles ; but, once over, the weary will be at rest ! " There 
shall be no more death." Christ will put him under his 
feet ! (Awful to the sinner. Thou, damned soul, shalt de- 
sire to die ! — but in thy case too it shall have operation : 
" No more death!") O! the ecstatic feeling of the soul 
when entering heaven ! — Never ! never more to die ! (Sub- 
lime !) 

(2.) If changed like Christ's, then no more deformity — no 
infirmity — no mark of disease — like Chrisfs ! The care of 
the body here is a great inconvenience ; even the duties of 
religion are often neglected through the urgency of the 
body's claims ; if we wish to pray, &c, we must drive the 
duties of religion into a corner, &c. — The glorious body of 
Christ ! 

" When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to 
be admired in all them that believe [because our testimony 
among you was believed] in that day." It is essential, then, 
that our body be like Christ's glorious body ! Where shall 
we look for the glory of Christ ? Is it in a burning world ? 
Glorious — awfully so ! Is it in the splendours of angelic 
choirs ? No : there is not an adaptation in them, &c. — no 
body ! But Christ glorified in his saints ! (Sublime !) * * 

(3.) If changed and fashioned like Christ's glorious body, 
then a more fit companion for the Spirit. Why cannot our 
spirits now bear aloft in the contemplation of the glories of 
the throne of God ? (Why tired now of this ordinance ?) 



THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 263 

The flesh is weak, and the inferior principle binds down 
its superior. We begin to study — dive into the mysteries 
of God ; but, when just beginning to know the alphabet, the 
infirmities of the body remind us that old age has arrived, 
and a stop is put to all ! " We know but in part !" nay, the 
very pursuit of these things will itself bring on 'premature 
disease, and then death ends our ardent pursuits I He will 
not wait on Archimedes till he has finished, &c. We must 
lay all aside and die ! 

How little enjoyment or good also can this body bear ? 
See Mount Tabor ! They acknowledge "It is good to be 
here ;" but they cannot bear it ; a cloud is thrown over them, 
and as dust they are, to dust they return ; the flesh is cast 
upon the ground ; their spirit cannot contemplate it, and 
they must come from Tabor ! — But see the glorious body ! 
— like Christ's ! — 'tis higher than an angel's ! — See his glo- 
rified humanity supporting his human soul ! And yet in 
closest alliance with the Deity ! — able to bear up under all 
the overwhelmings of glory, even in the human soul and 
body! We, then, "heirs of God!" (can only inherit his 
blessings here ; there himself /)— joint with Jesus ! — Then 
his last prayer will be fulfilled — fully answered, " That they 
all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, 
that they may be one in us." Impossible to express the ful- 
ness of this ! One with Christ ! ! 

III. How is this to be effected ? The apostle resolves all 
into the Divine power ! — this is an answer to every ob- 
jection. " How can these things be ?" is the language of 
the blind man — " The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it V 7 
(By that very power, O infidel ! which will subdue thee to 
himself — perhaps thou thinkest that this will require a mighty 
power ; yes, " but he is able," &c.) How must every weak 
objection fall before this reply ! — Many Christians will not 
take this high ground, but fritter away the power of God 
to shreds of glory only ! and some will even bring Scripture 
to support the opinion contrary — as, 

1. " Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." And they 
would form a new body then (this would be a new creation^ 



264 THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 

not a resurrection). True, not in the form of flesh and 
blood, but the same substance — a log of wood consumed, 
the particles remain (matter is indestructible) — and it will 
be modified. — God can vary the same matter in infinite va- 
riety, and this is Paul's argument in the 15th chapter of 1 
Corinthians, though so often misunderstood. — Read from 
the 39th to the 44th verse — he shows here what different 
kinds of flesh, nay, of mailer, he made from the same lump ; 
and can he not vary thy flesh and blood, and yet preserve 
the identity of the parts ? 

2. On this plan of accommodation the germe system is 
founded — Rabbinical — -and founded on the same mistaken 
chapter (1 Cor., xv., 35 to 38 v.). Paul is not describing 
the process of the resurrection — the analogy between the 
growing of wheat and our growth ; but showing the various 
forms which the same matter is capable of undergoing, and 
yet preserving the identity of its substance. This system 
may be well termed vegetation, but not a resurrection. 

3. Others, on the same system, say that the blending of 
bodies has been such that it is now impossible to have the 
same body ; we have fed on other bodies ; many on their 
own species ; many have been devoured by beasts, &c. ; all 
evaporated as in air, &c. But what of all this ? Do not 
we see God daily upholding the works of his hands, and is 
that inferior to this ? If we doubt the resurrection even yet, 
it is because we have low notions of the power of God ! 
We think of him as of a man like ourselves I Does he not 
pervade all things .? Is he not in the centre of the hardest 
rock as well as in the ambient air ? and does he not know 
all the changes the bodies are undergoing, and whither every 
particle is removing ? Are they not all under his eye ? If 
all our members were written in this book when as yet 
they were not formed, can any of them escape him when 
they are formed ? Believe in God's superintendence. — 
Away with all such fears I Let the philosopher dispute 
about these things, and argue unphilosophically, &c. — the 
infidel deny, and the unbeliever doubt, the power of God, 
we take it on his word ! There is in the mind of Deity the 



THE BODY RAISED AND CHANGED. 265 

idea of our resurrection-body, to which we shall be con- 
formed by the " power wherewith he is able even to subdue 
all things to himself." Yes ; we shall come forth ; and our 
grave will be as our dressing-chamber, where we lay aside 
corruption with our grave clothes, and are clothed like unto 
Christ ; ready for the bridegroom, prepared to be ushered 
into the presence of the Lamb. 
Application. 

1. Like the pillar that led the Israelites, it has a dark 
side for its enemies ; while it assures us of a resurrection, 
it tells us it will be of the unjust as well as the just. Oh ! 
sinner, the earth will spew thee forth ; in vain thy marble 
tomb attempts to hide thee : the solid marble rends ! — -the 
body shall rise to receive according to the deeds done in the 
body ! the instrument of sin shall be the instrument of suf- 
fering. Take the alarm ! Be at peace with God. 

2. It should mitigate our sorrows for departing friends ; 
we mourn their loss ; it is right to weep ; to indulge the 
feelings of sympathetic sorrow (grace never conquers this 
nature). Jesus wept! But we sorrow not as those without 
hope ! we meet again ! we soon shall meet to part no more I 
The family bond will again be tied. I shall again meet my 
friend and rekindle my fire — for he is not dead, but sleep- 
eth ! Parents, &c, children, &c, you will know them 
again, and, flying to the mutual embrace, the language of 
Paradise will be heard, My child, my child ! My father, 
my father ! 

3. It should comfort us in the prospect of our death ; he 
will be with thee then ; he will support thy head ; be not 
alarmed ; remember it is but putting off mortality ; it is the 
passage home ; heaven is my home I — he will not leave our 
soul in hell. * ■ * * He will come and call us from the 
tomb, and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then, like 
Job, " O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou 
wouldst keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou 
wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me ! If a 
man die, shall he live again ? all the days of my appointed 
time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and 

23 L *< 



266 THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN. 

I will answer thee : thou wilt have a desire to the work of 
thy hands." — This refers to the time between death and the 
resurrection. "Wherefore comfort one another with these 
words," &c, &c. 



SERMON XLII. 

THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN. 

Psalm lxiii., 8. — My soul followeth hard after thee ; thy right hand upholdeth me. 

The Hebrew here rendered followeth hard after signifies 
also to cleave to, &c. — Perhaps the Psalmist had the idea of a 
child at once exerting itself to follow and to cleave to its pa- 
rent. How natural — picture a case : see the father — the 
child says, " Hold me by the hand ;" still it requires all his 
exertion to keep pace, &c. — But while he hangs on you, 
he is encouraged to proceed. He followeth hard, but your 
right hand upholds and draws him forward. 

In applying these words to the experience of a child of 
God, consider, 

I. The efforts he makes. 
II. The assistance he receives. 

I. The efforts he makes. 

These efforts are directed to three principal points : 

First. Obedience to the will of God. Self -will is the prin- 
ciple of action with the children of this world. But reli- 
gion teaches to deny self. God's will is the Christian's 
chart and compass. " Lord, what wouldst thou have me to 
do?" 

But this obedience is distinguished by two features : 

1. It will be spiritual. There will be purity in the mo- 
tive, as well as rectitude in the act. 

2. Universal — Not like Saul, who spared Agag, but " hav- 
ing respect to all the commandments." 

Secondly. Constant exercise of faith in the promises 



THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN. 267 

of God. The child of God feels his impotence and his 
need of him who is able to keep him from falling — he fol- 
io weth hard ! — often fears he shall be cast down. It would 
be endless to enumerate all the difficulties to be encounter- 
ed. — " Many are the afflictions of the righteous," &c. — often 
they are tried in the fire.— The accuser of the brethren per- 
haps obtains permission, as in Job's case, to lay his hand 
on their property, their children, or their persons ; nay, one 
in whom they trusted lifts up his heel against them. And 
do they feel no tendency to faint under these tribulations ? 
no temptation to say, " All men are liars ?" No danger in 
believing a lie of the enemy that " God has shut up his lov- 
ing kindness in sore displeasure"- — no difficulty in saying, 
*' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." O ! it is a 
narrow way, a steep and difficult ascent. — -There are mo- 
ments in which we cry out, " My feet were almost gone, 
my steps had wellnigh slipped." Yet we follow hard after 
God, and resemble Gideon and his little army, " faint, yet 
pursuing." 

Thirdly. The enjoyment of communion with God. This 
is a higher point of Christian experience ! — the principal in- 
ducement to a child in following, &c. — does not merely ori- 
ginate in the influence of authority, or the fear of surround- 
ing dangers, but from the expectation of that satisfaction 
and pleasure which is always found in the society and con- 
verse of a beloved object The toil of exertion is sweet- 
ened, and the length of the way beguiled by a thousand 
pleasing inquiries — a thousand pleasing communications. 
The little traveller, as he runs by the side and holds the 
hand of his father, lifts up his voice for information and in- 
clines his ear to instruction ; and if it were not for the inter- 
est which this mutual intercourse gives to the journey, it 
would be, to the child at least, a dull and irksome toil. He 
would want a sufficient excitement to persist in the labori- 
ous effort ; and beginning at first to follow afar off, would 
at length be tempted to- measure back his steps to the place 
from whence he commenced his course. 

So with the child of God. Communion with his heavenly 
Father is the most valued and exalted privilege. Divest re- 



268 THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN.. 

ligion of this, and it becomes a yoke grievous to be borne 
We might, indeed, submit to it for a while in the spirit of 
bondage unto fear, but we should soon become faint and 
weary in our minds. And such is actually observed to be 
the case with those who substitute purposes of amendment, 
attempts at reformation, and forms of Godliness, in place of 
spiritual, experimental piety — these have no root in them- 
selves. Religion has no hold upon their affections ; it is not 
the source of their joy. They flee to it in a time of danger 
as a matter of necessity, not of choice ; and when the danger 
seems in some degree subsided, tbey gradually return to the 
world ; they endure for a while, and in a time of temptation 
fall away. Such are the desires they cherish, such the ef- 
forts they make. 

II. The assistance he receives. 

The inference is, as long as the people of God follow 
hard after, &c. 

1. He will deliver their feet from falling, as the child' 
upheld by the father — so feeling his dependance, he is strong 
in the Lord, &c- 

If ever we fail, either there is a want of fervour in our en- 
deavour, or of simplicity in our dependance. We either do 
not follow hard after, or do not hang upon him. I appeal 
to experience. When have your feet slipped ? * * # On 
the other hand, when have you been most sensibly assisted ? 

Indeed, the Divine perfections preclude the possibility of 
any other result. It would be unnatural in one of you that 
is a father to with-hold assistance from your child, while la- 
bouring to keep pace, &c. — so here. 

But you say, We know all things are possible to him that 
believeth ; but then my faith is liable to fail. * *■ 

2. He will keep your faitb from failing— " Thy right hand 
upholdeth me." David meant that he not only perfected his 
obedience, but maintained his confidence, by means of the 
grace of God assisting him. Indeed, our observance of 
the law is inseparably connected with our faith in the 
promise. The Christian's work is the work of faith ; his 
walk is a walk of faith ; his life is a life of faith. Faiths 



THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN. "269 

as Samson's hair, is the principle wherein his great strength 
lieth ; if shorn of this, he becomes weak like other men. 
Hence Satan lays his axe to this root of the tree ; and how 
often has he who is able to succour them that are tempted 
helped us against our unbelief. What would have become ol 
the faith of Jairus, if Jesus had not strengthened it by, " Fear 
not ; believe only, and she shall be made whole." — What of 
the faith of Martha ? What of the Psalmist's at the Provi- 
dence of God, if he had not gone into the sanctuary ? What 
^of Peter's, if Jesus had not prayed that his faith might not 
fail ? — and what of our own ! — -In fact, as in the child's case, 
our hold is so feeble, that if our heavenly Father did not 
grasp our hand in his, we should fall. Every stone of stum- 
bling would trip us. Every danger would turn us back. 
Our nature tends to " an evil heart of unbelief, in departing 
from the living God." We are only more than conquerors 
through him that loved us. 

How much is implied in the encouragement to Paul at 
Corinth, " Fear not," &c, Paul might have departed, like 
Mark, from the work, if the right hand of Jesus had not up- 
holden him. 

So we " drink of the brook in the way ; therefore do we 
lift up our heads." 

3. He will preserve your hearts from fainting. And 
here is the cause of apostacy. Men do not follow hard 
after and hang upon God as the source of their delight ; 
and, consequently, remaining strangers to joy and peace 
in believing, become weary of the comfortless and formal 
round of duties and restraints, till at last they altogether 
break the yoke from their necks. There is no stability in re- 
ligion short of this experimental knowledge of the love of 
Jesus — it shall be in you " a well of water springing up into 
everlasting life." — Such have "bread and flesh in the morning, 
and bread and flesh in the evening, and drink of the brook." 
so that in the days of famine they have enough. Yes, even 
under the loss of outward comforts they have inward refresh- 
ments, and say, " Though we walk in the midst of trouble, 
thou wilt revive us : thou shalt stretch forth thine hand 
against the wrath of our enemies, and thy right hand shall 



&70 THE EFFORTS AND SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN. 

save us." " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; 
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." 

Application. — What is the object of your pursuit ? Is 
there any resemblance between you and the Psalmist 1 
What is the bent of your desires, the tenor of your exer- 
tions ? May the Spirit of God enable you, as in a glass, to 
discover your own character and conduct while I seriously 
press on you these propositions. 

1. " They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the 
flesh." Are there not some here who haste to rise up early 
and eat the bread of carefulness, in hope of saying ere long, 
" Soul, take thine ease ; eat, drink, and be merry ?" 

Or perhaps, free from care, you are like the thoughtless 
prodigal rather than the calculating fool ; your course is 
marked not by industry and thrift, but waste and riot. To 
enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season is the end at which 
you aim. 

But in whatsoever form the world may ensnare your af- 
fections, it will elude your grasp, and leave you the experi- 
mental knowledge that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 
Oh ! begin to follow hard after God. * * * God will not 
disappoint your largest expectations. He promises to give 
you rest. Take hold of his strength and say, " Draw me, 
we will run after thee." 

2. "They that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the 
Spirit " Are any aiming at a spiritual universal obedience ? 
a more humble, simple, constant, and peaceful dependance ? 
glad to withdraw from the avocations of business and the 
masquerade of worldly company to cultivate communion 
with Jesus? — "following hard after God?" "Fear not, 
worm Jacob ! His right hand upholdeth thee." Be not 
discouraged because of the way. " Hast thou not known, 
hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the 
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is wea- 
ry ?" Whatever the difficulties of thy warfare, "be strong 
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," and thou shalt eventu- 
ally say, the right hand of the Lord hath the pre-eminence. 
The right hand of the Lord hath brought wondrous things 
to pass. 



CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 271 



SERMON XLIIL 

CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 

Galatians, vi., 2. — Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ, 

The constitution of man in his natural state fully proves 
that he is a being created for social intercourse, and depend- 
ing for happiness in a great degree on the society of his own 
species. God himself has also declared this ; for no sooner 
did he produce this exquisite workmanship of the human 
frame, than he pronounces— " It is not good that man should 
be alone." 

It is only the invention of man which would destroy this 
arrangement ; but, under whatever pretences such persons 
may hide their plea for a contrary order of things, it is clear 
they violate the plain intention of God ! Man was not 
made for a cloister ; and though the garb of religion may 
attract his desires to become a recluse and shut himself up 
from the observation of his fellow-creatures, yet such a vol- 
untary humiliation will not affect the balances in which he 
will be weighed at that day when God shall render to every 
man according to his works. If such do possess any light, 
why. not let it shine forth before men, that others may be 
induced to glorify their Father who is in heaven ? Such do 
actually eclipse that glory within them, if such they really 
have, and God is not honoured by them in the face of an 
ungodly world ; he receives no glory from such ; nor can he 
say to them, " Ye are my witnesses IV 

All society, whether domestic, civil, or religious, has its 
origin in God ; and these bonds which God has joined let 
no man put asunder ! — 

The benefits which arise to men by this conjunction are 
great beyond measure ; even as it regards this world ! for 
they are linked together by the bonds of the reciprocal rela- 
tion of their nature and the ties of consanguinity ; and how- 
ever certain distinctions may exist among them, arising from 



272 CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 

the various acts and orders of Providence, or from pedigree, 
education, fortune, talents, different situations and spheres 
of action, yet the bonds of society are not thereby loosed ; 
we are of the same species, and agree in far more impor- 
tant respects than those in which we differ. We are all the 
workmanship of the same hands, composed of the same ma- 
terials, cast into the same form, copied from the same im- 
age, descended from the same common stock, inhabitants 
of the same world, the care of the same Providence, involv- 
ed in the same calamities of the fall, and experiencing the 
same necessities. Herein we all resemble each other by 
nature ; but far more striking are the features which grace 
imprints upon our minds : as those who belong to Christ, 
we are the purchase of the Saviour's blood, the objects of 
the same mercy, the subjects of the same grace, have the 
same duties to perform, the same enemies to encounter, the 
same faith to exercise, the same race to run, the same hope 
to animate us, and if by patient continuance in well doing, 
seek for the same glory, honour, immortality, and eternal 
life. 

St. Paul improves this union in the text, and brings it into 
a practical application ; for as Christians we stand in so 
near a relation to each other, that the relative duties thereby 
laid on us cannot be too impressively enforced. 

I. The exhortation. 
II. The reason of it, or motive to it. 

I. The exhortation. 

We speak here only of the burdens of the children of 
God ! for to such the apostle speaks. 

1. There may be a burden of poverty ; it is often their 
case ; not that this is the consequence of their religion ; no, 
it ameliorates even our temporal condition. But not many 
rich are called, &c. ; yet God often casts his children upon 
the richer of the brethren ; they are often deprived not 
only of the comforts, but the necessaries of life. O ! want 
of bread ! — and believe me, pinching want is a great afflic- 
tion. 



CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 273 

2. There may be a burden of sickness ; bodily affliction — 
health is a blessing incalculably valuable, and a blessing 
which they could well appreciate to whom nothing is given 
but the cup of sorrow, almost unmixed with any alleviation. 
This is not the natural effect of religion, for she sits as a be- 
neficent and bountiful empress, "holding in her right hand 
length of days, and in her left hand riches and honours :" yet 
the body may often be " chastened with pain upon his bed, 
and the multitude of his bones with strong pain." 

3. Persecution. This is no new thing ; all who will live 
Godly must suffer it ; nay, to some it is given to know 
how great things they must suffer for his name ; "for to them 
it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, 
but also to suffer for his sake." 

The least kind is reproach. The world spends the viru- 
lence of its tongue against the children of God ; enthusiasm 
and madness are some of the epithets. * * * But a man's 
greatest foes shall be they of his own household. See the 
parent who stifles religious impressions in the child ; you 
were pleased with them when going on in all the gayeties 
of the world J ***** * 

4. Temptation. This is no new thing. The weak be- 
liever is much pressed at by the enemy, and perhaps so much 
so that there may be, 

5. Darkness of mind ; he may have given way to the 
adversary. This is, indeed, the peculiar meaning of the ex- 
hortation in the text, as in the first verse: "Brethren, if a 
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore 
such a one in the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, 
lest thou also be tempted." Mildness must be used on these 
occasions, and not austerity. * * * A man must not be for- 
saken of his brethren because he has slipped. * * * But how 
are we to bear each other's burdens ? 

1. Sympathize ivith them. How strangely does sympathy 
relieve the sufferer ! We are to weep with them that weep, 
for it lessens the affliction; and to rejoice with them that 
do rejoice, for it increases their joy ; joy communicated in- 
creases the feeling of joy. Idle compliments may do among 
the worldly, but the child of God asks not in indifference 

M m 



274 CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 

concerning his brother's welfare. He enters feelingly into 
his state, and is himself oppressed with the burden that 
weighs down his afflicted brother. 

2. Counsel them. Faithful advice is often of the greatest 
use ; a good counsellor is a suit half gained. * * 
* * ****** 

3. Relieve them. In vain to counsel if not relieve. — Many- 
give counsel because it costs nothing, but withhold relief. — 
How few Dorcases ! good Samaritans ! * * * 

4. Pray for them. This is no small part of your duty ; 
the faithful prayer availeth much. If our prayers for each 
other were not efficacious, we should not be so often required 
to pray for all men. — Many proofs are given of the efficacy 
of prayer on these occasions. The Church prayed for Pe- 
ter, and he was given, in answer to them. — It is on this plan 
the sick send to be prayed for. — You should be spiritual 
priests, bearing on your hearts the names of those for whom 
you are interested, as the high-priest's ephod ! * * 

II. The reasons of it, or motive to it. " This is the law 
of Christ." 

1. It is the law of his precepts ; the whole tenor of them 
is to love one another : "A new commandment I give 
unto you, that ye love one another : as I have loved you, 
that ye also love one another." Nay, even to extend it to 
enemies : " If they hunger, feed them ; if they thirst, give 
them drink." 

2. It is the law of his example; he taught nothing but 
what he practised ; as to his enemies, see him doing them 
good ; healing the ear of Malchus, who came to take him ; 
and on the cross — " Father, forgive them." But see his ex- 
ample towards his own, which is the pith of the exhorta- 
tion ; poverty — though he was poor indeed, he never ate his 
bread alone. * * * Sickness — see, in the case of Lazarus, 
how he sympathized ! Persecution — see how he loved his 
disciples the more as he saw the approach of persecution. 
How he prayed for them to the last, and " loved them to the 
end." Temptation — Satan had desired to have some, but 
he had prayed for them ; he counselled them: " Watch and 
pray, that ye enter not into temptation." — Darkness — see 



Messiah's peaceful reign. 275 

Peter's case. He did not cast him off because of this, but 
appeared to him first. Peter's case is an example to us with 
regard to all such as have been turned out of the way 1 
Pray, run, plant the standard, invite the fugitive to rally 
round it : "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 

But again, how else can you prove yourselves the disci- 
ples of Christ ? The grand motive to Christian benevolence 
is, Christ died for me — the conviction that I was a sinner. 
He first loved me ; this is the strongest motive — and this is 
the rule by which he will judge the world : " I was an hun- 
gered," &c. O ! how strong was this principle among the 
first disciples, that even Pliny could give no more striking 
account of this sect of the Nazarenes than this, that " They 
loved each other," &c, &c. 

It might be shown that this law is practicable by St. Paul's 
example. He mourned with his brethren — was jealous over 
them — willing to bear bonds. Fornicator, &c. — Thus we 
give evidence that we are not Antinomians, though we have 
become followers of Christ. # # # # 

=&• 2k 2k 2k 2k 2k 2& 

-JfT «7> -7^ -7T« ^» -7V* ff* 

Apply. — Visit the sick, &c. # : .'. #..-.•#,. # 



SERMON XLIV. 



A MISSIONARY DISCOURSE. 



Isaiah, xi., 9. — They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 

Who would not desire it ? Who would not pray, " O 
send out thy light and thy truth : let them lead me : let them 
bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." Do we 
imagine that this world is to be ever the seat of fraud and 
violence — always a moral chaos, &c. * * * and that no 
Almighty Spirit will ever brood over the deep abyss — no 
voice, " Let there be light !" No atmosphere of love 



276 Messiah's peacegul reign. 

stretched over it ? Will the Almighty never again say u All 
is good?" Revelation brings the prospect near, when we 
ascend the hill and see all subjected to Jesus. The whole 
passage before us shows it. " And there shall come forth 
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow 
out of his roots ; and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon 
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of 
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear 
of the Lord ; and shall make him of quick understanding in 
the fear of the Lord : and he shall not judge after the sight 
of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears : but 
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the 
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be 
the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." 
Then what a change produced. — " The wolf also shall dwell 
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; 
and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; 
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the 
bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together : 
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking 
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child 
shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not 
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall 
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
the sea." How is the prophets harp strung to heavenly 
strains ! God's will shall be done on earth even as it is in 
heaven ! 

I. Contemplate the pacific spirit that shall be in the 
world in Messiah's reign. 

II. The cause of its universal prevalence. 

I. The pacific spirit, &c. 

It refers to this period ; and when all the Messiah's medi- 
atorial purposes are finished it shall take place in its fulness. 
Where ? In all his holy mountain. The figure has allusion 
to Sinai. Zion under the Gospel is Sinai under the law — 



m 

God's universal Church — " holy mountain,' ' to show the pu- 
rity, &c. See what the prophet says in chapter ii. : " And it 
shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the 
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, 
and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall 
flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come 
ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the 
house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his 
ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall 
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many 
people : and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, 
and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." 
Now, it is in the Church of God that this prediction is to be 
accomplished — and it shall be extended over all the earth. 
Now, the effect of this will be, " They shall neither hurt nor 
destroy in all my holy mountain." — This prediction shall be 
accomplished when, 

1. There are no mutual antipathies. How is it that man 
is a wolf to man ? — this was not so from the beginning — sin ! 
— this is the cause * and hence man's history is always one 
of mourning, and lamentation, and wo V — See it in domestic 
— national, &c. — -When man became the enemy of God he 
became the enemy of himself ; and it is only by restoring him 
that the basis for fellowship between man and man will be 
# % # Human laws may bind and assist, but the enmity 
can only be effectually subdued by the grace of the Gos- 
pel. # * # Civilization follows Christianity. * * # Antip- 
athies arise from the opposing passions of human nature and 
the various standards of morals and opinions. — But when the 
Gospel is universal, "they shall neither hurt nor destroy" 
% # # The passions shall be restrained and governed by the 
Gospel, and the laws of civil society in accordance with 
this # * * and " their kings shall be nursing fathers, and 
their queens shall be nursing mothers." All erroneous prin- 
ciples shall be then suppressed, not by force, but by the 
outpouring of the Spirit ; and then our Lord's prayer will 
be answered— -" we all one" 
24 



278 Messiah's peaceful reign. 

2. It shall be displayed in the activity of genuine benev- 
olence. Religion is love ; its origin was love ! — the love of 
God ! — " he so loved the world that he gave his only begot- 
ten Son." It was prominent in Christ; and what was his 
last commandment ? " A new commandment I give unto 
you, that ye love one another : as I have loved you, that 
ye also love one another" — and all the doctrines of his re- 
ligion tend to it. How active, then, should the benevolence 
of the Gospel be ! 

3. This spirit will show itself in true Christian fellowship. 
See the end of the second chapter of Acts : " And all that 
believed were together, and had all things common ; and 
sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all 
men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily 
with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from 
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and single- 
ness of heart" — the love of God the basis — earth the em- 
blem of Heaven ! Then, indeed, may we say, in the glow- 
ing language of an apostle, " But ye are come unto Mount 
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Je- 
rusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the 
general assembly and church of the first-born, which are 
written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the 
spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator 
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that 
speaketh better things than that of Abel." 

Your Church, then, is founded for this purpose. Figure 
to yourself a village — the Lord's ! — the town catches the 
flame, &c. * * * Well, this shall be so : " They shall not 
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall 
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
the sea." — -The revolution will be as great as the lion lying 
down with the lamb. It must, then, be effected by a change 
of nature^" new cr eatures" * * * * 

II. We notice the cause of the universal prevalence of 
the pacific spirit. Why do we believe it ? " The mouth 
of the Lord hath spoken it" — " The earth shall be full of 
the knowledge of the Lord." But let us notice, 

1. The knowledge with which the world shall be filled. 



Messiah's peaceful reign. 279 

Every kind of knowledge has not this effect. The philoso- 
pher has a right to talk — for knowledge is power— -but the 
knowledge of literature and the arts will not change the an- 
tipathies of man ; it will not eradicate the ravenous nature. 
" The knowledge of the Lord" can alone do this — the char- 
acter of Jesus — the mind of Christ. — We have known learn- 
ed men, yet ferocious (Tschoop) ; but " This is life eternal, 
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom thou hast sent." 

2. See the tendency of this knowledge to produce such 
results : we argue it from three topics : 

First. It is the knowledge attained from Divine revela- 
tion : " As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heav- 
en, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and 
maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the 
sower and bread to the eater : so shall my word be that 
goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall not return unto me 
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it 
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."- — It is quite 
natural for it to accomplish this. 

Secondly. It is God's instrument — He makes it the power 
unto salvation. Not that in itself it is so, but from actual 
results ; it has been his poiver to salvation. 

Thirdly. The certainty of universal diffusion. This we 
could only know by revelation ; for though we might argue 
by the kind of means, yet, as these are only his revelations, 
the end is also necessary to be revealed. " There shall be 
a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mount- 
ains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon ; and they 
of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth"—" The 
kingdom of heaven is as a grain of mustard-seed, which is 
the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown it is the great- 
est among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of 
the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." 

We rest our hopes, then, of this on the promises made to 
the fathers, &c, and on the promised agency of the Holy 
Spirit. * * * * * * * 

Its important relation to us. * * * Have you obeyed 



280 Paul's resolve. 

from your heart that form of doctrine which was delivered 
to you * * * Every minister may say, "I am set for the 
fail and rising again of many." * * * To perish from under 
the cross is tremendous ! 

Interesting, then, to promote it among others. — Christians 
are a confederacy — general diffusion # # # 

What do you not owe to the Gospel ? What would you 
receive in exchange for it ? Then give liberally for its dif- 
fusion ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



SERMON XLV. 



1 Corinthians, ii., 2. — For I determined not to know anything aiming you save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified. 

1. Weighty causes must have conspired to make St. 
Paul utter so determined a resolution ; for, he could be all 
things to all men, that he might save some. The Corinthian 
Church objected to the Gospel preached by him; not be- 
cause he wanted refinement in delivery, &c, for he was 
versed in all this, &c. — they objected more to the substance 
than the manner ; not that they were averse to being in- 
structed in the principles of the faith, for they had teachers 
of it, but they wished Paul to mix with it the ivisdom of 
words , wordy wisdom, which he calls " the wisdom of the 
world" Abstruse themes which would lead to philosophical 
discussions, &c. 

2. It seems Paul's practice was to dwell on the atone- 
ment; and this doctrine was incapable of embellishment — 
it was too awful ! too simple ! (Lomas.) Other preachers 
among them had accommodated their teachings to their 
views ; but Paul did not — he is now in a dilemma, either to 
yield to their taste, or lose his popularity. With him there is 
no hesitancy ; popularity is not the end of a preacher whose 
work is with the Lord : " For I determined not to know 
anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 



281 

3. The reason of this resolution was not self-will, but be- 
cause he considered the preaching of Jesus and the cross as 
the vital point of Christianity. Take this away, and the 
G ospel is nothing ; nothing saving even in Christianity but 
this — comprehends all ! ! 

I. The meaning of the phrase, " Jesus Christ, and him 
crucified;" and, 

II. Consider the sentiment in the text as the apostle's 
proposition, &c. 

I. The meaning of the phrase, " Jesus Christ, and him 
crucified. " 

The orthodox Church of Christ who believe in the atone- 
ment interpret the phrase as not to the fact of the crucifixion, 
but as a sacrifice for sin, and consider faith in it, necessary 
to salvation. 

Others, who deny the atonement, think he merely announ- 
ces the fact : the Jews might come under this class.— But 
some professing Christians go but a shade farther, and sup- 
pose that by his death he witnessed to the truth, was a good 
man, and died a martyr. 

We are at no loss to determine the apostle's meaning by 
his own explanation, which is the fairest way in all authors. 
See chapter i., verses 23, 24; he says, "But we preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto 
the. Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both 
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom 
of God:" now his meaning must take in these expressions. 
Apply them to the low phrase believed in by many ! 

" To the Jews a stumbling-block" Was it the fact ? No, 
they acknowledged the fact ; and how, then, could they 
stumble if this were the meaning ? They might, indeed, be 
angry at assuming that his death was the seal of his truth ; 
but there was nothing in this on which to stumble! (Ob- 
serve, I confine my remarks to " Christ crucified" — not the 
resurrection.) — Again, if so, how was it foolishness to the 
Greeks, that a moral teacher should be put to death ? The 
same had been witnessed among themselves. — Socrates was 

Nn 



282 Paul's resolve. 

so put to death, and many of his disciples remained, still 
fond of their master and his sayings. Again, how, if this 
"be the sense, is " the power of God" manifested ? It would 
have been rather displayed in preventing' the crucifixion : 
the best of men was dying, and his enemies had tried the 
power of his God, when they said, come from the cross ; 
and Jesus had said, " My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me ?" — Again, His ivisdom would be shown in plan- 
ning his escape. — What incentive to virtue would there be 
in all this ? None. 

But take the other view of the phrase, and see how this 
text explains its meaning. It was a stumbling-block to the 
Jews, who sought to be justified by ivorks, and had lost the 
doctrine of justification by faith, for which Paul contends 
with them so much in Romans ; nay, they saw nothing 
through their own sacrifices ; they had lost their design, and 
knew nothing of the doctrine of atonement. — It was fool- 
ishness to the Greeks to tell them they could only be saved 
by believing in a Jew, rather than in any of their own dei- 
ties ; and a Jew who was rejected and put to death by his 
own countrymen. 

See, again, " the wisdom of God." Wisdom is knowledge 
in action, and is displayed in devising suitable means to ac- 
complish the end ; it implies difficulty in the way to be re- 
moved or overcome. — Now, the end is the salvation of sin- 
ners. See God's wisdom in accomplishing this through all 
difficulties ; and what were they ? They arose from the 
moral government of God; how to pardon without justify- 
ing the sinner ; how to show his mercy, and yet his abhor- 
rence to sin. See how Christ's cross removes it. God's 
holiness and justice are awfully displayed, and more so than 
if all men had been damned ; his hatred to sin is such as 
to sacrifice his Son ! ! Surely no encouragement is given 
to sin now, though he do pardon. — How does it illustrate 
the Divine power ? God attained no increase of actual 
power, but his power was restrained. — Our king can pardon 
all, but his own laws restrain him. — So God, but the law of 
his government must be honoured. But when the sacrifice 
was made, see what an illustration of Divine power follow- 



Paul's resolve. 283 

©d ; at Pentecost it descended " like a rushing mighty 
wind ;" and it is yet, and always will be, with us ! ! It now 
rolls on over the world, and all the energies of Deity are put 
ibrth to save man ! Before, he was mighty to destroy—*- 
nliow, mighty to save ! three thousand at once ! — Thus our 
text explains, 

IT. The proposition that this is the only doctrine, not to 
say in the world, but even in Christianity ', which is saving ! 
All others are built on this, the sacrificial death of Christ ! 
To show this, grant that there must be an adaptation in the 
Gospel to produce the end, the salvation of men ! For ex- 
ample, God might have filled the Bible with other truth, say 
philosophical ; and it would have been as much truth as the 
present ; but nobody would expect salvation by it ; there 
would be in it no adaptation to our case. The Eastern 
merchant must fail in the desert if no water be found ; yet 
his treasure is the same, but of no use : so v/e, with all this 
treasure of wisdom, if no living water. — Grant then, I say, 
that in the revelation of God there must be an adaptation to 
our case. — God has two ways of effecting his purposes : 
what we call ordinary and extraordinary. — Of the first are 
miracles ; in these he acts with or without means, and often 
contrary to means, as in the case of the blind man anointed 
with clay ; but in the gift of a revelation, he has laid aside 
miracles, and proposed the subject to our reason ; it must, 
then, adapt to us. Now, what is in the Gospel that adapts 
itself to our condition ? First, what is our condition ? 1. 
We are corrupted! Those who interpret the phrase in the 
text to its low acceptation, deny this.-— Then account for the 
evil in the world. Vice does exist, and it cannot be the 
natural growth ; if no fall, the natural growth would have 
been virtue. Not able to deny its existence, they say it is 
the effect of example ; but why, then, is it universal? Why 
is it that no virtuous posterity of a virtuous ancestor, who 
never saw evil example, was ever discovered ? The Bible 
gives the only reply : that mankind fell at its root, and all 
are corrupt. Do they say still, that human nature is equally 
capable of good and evil ? Why, then, the greater propen- 
sity to evil ? — Still we say, because all are corrupt. Now, 



284 PAUL'S RtfSOLVEL 

if so, then leave Divine aid out of the question, and we sinlf 
still lower, for we have in us no regenerating principle. 

2. We are guilty also ; actually criminal ; and this is the 
cause of eternal death : "The wages of sin is death." See^ 
then, our case — altogether Jielpless, through corruption, with- 
out strength, and exposed, moreover, to future and eternal 
punishment, 

Noiv, this very condition it is which adapts the Gospel to 
us. Try every other doctrine revealed in the Gospel, and 
see if it will do. 1. True, it reveals more of the glory of 
God ; but what avails all our knowledge of God, if no sacri- 
fice ? The Gospel discovers his goodness in glowing char- 
acters ; but, while this rises on the scene, it is shaded by his 
justice ! Ask the damned ? They have more views of God's 
majesty than we, but it eases no sorrow ; they might see this 
goodness as for the obedient, but for them, helpless and guilty ,< 
his justice has a darker shade — darker, even for the bright- 
ness of that goodness! — "Dark with excessive bright!" 
Salvation, then, does not lie in this view of God. 

2. But you say, the Gospel is a beautiful moral law for 
our guide ! True ; there is more law in the Gospel than in 
the Old Testament ; yea, more than in any other dispensa- 
tion. — The Gospel is not compared with the law as being 
less strict in its requirements : no ; it is the same ; yea, the 
holiness and spirituality of God are set forth under a bright- 
er glow ! But it is compared with the law as a system of 
grace ; it " gives grace to help in every time of need." But 
see man as corrupt and guilty ; and does this apply to these 
morals ? What comfort can they give ? We do not want 
law : go to the victim condemned to die ; take the statute- 
book ; expatiate on the law he has violated ; alas ! he wants 
pardon, not law* — Miserable comforters ! 

3, You say, there is the example of Jesus ! Granted. — * 
We cannot study it too much ; yet the salvation of guilty 
men is not by this. Example is only latv in action, and the 
former answer applies to this ; if the laftv is unwelcome, so is 
its exhibition. — And what is the fact ? See the Jews : what 
did they benefit by his example ? They heard his gracious 
words, and yet hated him the more. The mind of marc 



PATJLS RESOLVE. 285 

Stales it. — Was it not the excellence of the example which 
made them hate it ? — they gnashed on him with their teeth ! 

4. You say, there are many promises in the Gospel without 
that of Christ, or salvation by Christ True ; but hope can- 
not rest on them. The promise of a common Providence^ 
food, raiment, &c, is made; but we are guilty— and what 
are these, if, after feeding for the day of slaughter, hell is to 
be our portion ? And again, the promises are all to his 
people. 

5. " But in the G ospel we have ' life and immortality 
brought to lights " Granted. It is delightful to contemplate 
it ; a state where the body never dies, and the soul and body 
may have immediate access to God ! But this is not the 
whole revelation ; it says, Heaven is the residence of saints ! 
But we are guilty ! What comfort to be led through it, 
and then, like Adam and Eve, cast out, and directed to the 
superscription, " There entereth here nothing that defileth, 
or worketh abomination, or loveth or maketh a lie. 5 ' There 
is nothing, then, in the Gospel on which to rest but the sacrifi- 
cial death of Christ. Here, " what the law could not do, in 
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own 
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned 
sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the law might be 
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
Spirit." We do not say that the above doctrines are unim- 
portant, but this of the cross is the only one that adapts 
itself to man, and is the basis of the whole — nothing without 
this centre ; 'tis life? 'tis light, and pervades all. 

We are then interested in the morality of the Gospel. — 
" I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accepta- 
ble unto God, which is your reasonable service." Also in 
the example of Jesus. His glory shines into our hearts, and 
we are changed from glory to glory till we bear his im- 
^age. Then we are interested in the promises — faith claims 
them. " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered 
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give 
ms all things ?" — Then we are interested in. a future state 5 



286 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

for, " If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs 
with Christ." 

Thus the cross connects them all ! ! * * * 

Application. — 1. The cross is of no use to us if we do not 
confess our corruptions, inability, and danger. — Be peni- 
tents — if never humbled, pray for repentance to the ac- 
knowledging of the truth. 2. We see the certainty of par- 
don — all is hope in the Gospel, and all certainty too. Say 
not that you are unworthy — all your unworthiness is assumed 
in the Gospel — it justifies in the character of ungodly. 3. 
We see what is meant by living a life of faith in the Son of 
God — hang on Jesus — all flows from him — all your petitions 
are presented by him — the blood of Christ and faith in that 
blood are all that stand between you and God. * * 

(In vain to build this house but for this doctrine ; may it 
ever reverberate here.) 4. Pray that a ministry may ever 
be among you to preserve this doctrine. * * * 



SERMON XLVI. 

THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

Psalm ex., 1-3. — The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until' 
I make thine enemies thy footstool. 

The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou in the midst 
of thine enemies. 

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness 
from the womb of the morning : thou hast the dew of thy youth. 

Our Lord made use of the language of this Psalm in his 
celebrated conversation with the Scribes and Pharisees.* 
The words being quoted by such authority, lead us, 

1. To speak with certainty as to these words being the 
words of David, spoken in the spirit of prophecy. The 
importance of which information will appear shortly. We 
observe, 

2. That the sentiments contained' in this passage are not 

* See Matt., xxii., 41-46. 



THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 287 

merely the private opinion of the Psalmist, but were written 
under the plenary inspiration of the Spirit of God. 

3. That the Being termed Lord in the text, " Who shall 
send the rod of his strength out of Zion," is the Messiah. 

4. The subject is the spread of his Gospel throughout 
the world. 

We shall consider, 

I. The nature of that Being in the text, called " Da- 
vid's Son." There can be no doubt the passage must be un- 
derstood prophetically, of the man Christ Jesus, partaking 
of flesh and blood — the humanity of Christ — like unto us. 

But he was as truly David's Lord ; the text can have 
no other meaning. When we recollect that the Psalmist 
was king in Irsael, chief of the nation, and had no superior, 
he can apply it in no other sense. David had no earthly 
lord. 

This is seen to be the meaning of the text by the manner 
in which our Lord introduces it. " What think ye of 
Christ ? whose son is he ? They say unto him, the son of 
David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit 
call him Lord ? saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit 
thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy foot- 
stool. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son ? 
And no man was able to answer him a word." What dif- 
ficulty was there in answering this plain question ? — What 
hesitation was manifested by the Scribes, and what was the 
occasion of this uncommon silence ? — They rejected the 
doctrine of the Divinity of Christ ! Why, if they would 
have allowed his Divinity, they would have answered that 
in his Divine nature he was Lord, and in his human na- 
ture son. 

Let no man think lightly of this point. Nothing can be 
more important— it is the vital doctrine of our faith — no- 
thing is more interesting ; as man, he claims intimate rela- 
tionship with all his creatures — he is our brother ; as God, 
he is our protector and Redeemer, and "ever liveth to make 
intercession for us;" as man, he suffered the death of the 
cross to atone for our transgressions, and, as God, sitteth at 
the right hand of the Father as our advocate : " The Lord 



288 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

said, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies 
thy footstool." 

II. The accomplishment of these words. This began 
when, by the Divine power, the stone which the Jews vainly 
thought would secure our Redeemer in the tomb, was rolled 
back from the mouth of the sepulchre, and he mounted to 
his native heaven ; then it was he had accomplished his mis- 
sion to this world, he threw off his human nature and as- 
cended to his regal throne ; then it was, amid the shoutings 
and hallelujahs of adoring angels, he ascended the throne of 
the Father. The pomp and grandeur of his entrance into 
this scene of magnificence and glory was not visible to the 
eye of mortals, but David has furnished us with some idea 
of its splendour: "Clouds and darkness are round about 
him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his 
throne." — " The Lord reigneth, let the earth tremble ; he 
sitteth between the cherubim, let the earth be moved." 
"Who can describe the grandeur and solemnity of such a 
coronation ! Then it was, after his assumption of human 
nature, his violent persecutions, his death and resurrection, 
that he was welcomed into heaven; then " The Lord said 
unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool :" angels and archangels conducted 
him in his coronation procession on the way to his throne of 
righteousness ; and the Psalmist has furnished us with an 
anthem : 

" Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye 
everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. 

" Who is this king of glory ? The Lord strong and 
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 

" Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye 
everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. 

" Who is this king of glory ? The Lord of hosts, he is 
the king of glory." — ■" Sing, then, unto the Lord with the 
harp, with the harp and the voice of a psalm ; with trumpets 
and sound of cornet, make a joyful noise before the Lord 
the King. 

" Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joy- 
ful together before the Lord." * # * * 



THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OP MESSIAH. 289 

III. We may infer from the text that to Christ and his 
government there are enemies. Strange as it may appear 
when we consider the low and degraded state to which man 
was reduced by the fall, and the infinite sacrifice which his 
Saviour made to redeem him, and the exalted situation to 
which he has rendered him eligible, that he still has enemies ; 
enemies to his priestly office and his regal government. — 
Every man is or has been his enemy. However some of 
you may by this time have repented, you have been his op- 
ponents : " The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is 
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be :" so 
that our opposition to the government of God is the conse- 
quence of the corruption of our hearts, and these will remain 
opposed to him till regenerated by him. 

But I need not travel far to prove that the world is oppo- 
sed to the will of its Maker ; I will not go among the Jews, 
the Mohammedans, nor the horde of infidels who taint the 
moral atmosphere of our own country * * * nor among the 
common rabble of sinners ; but appeal to members of this 
congregation, men respectable in character, and Christians 
by profession. And how is it that God is so little in your 
thoughts, and that the least trifle which flits across your 
imagination chases him from you ? How is it that your 
hearts do not submit to your judgments, conscious as you 
are that it is your duty to devote your whole souls to 
God ? How is it that you draw back from giving your 
heart to Him who has said, " My son, give me thine heart ?" 
But we will try you by another rule. We shall find among 
you many admirers of religion, many who will favour us with 
their approbation and honour Christianity with their patron- 
age — but when urged to render unto God the homage of their 
hearts, what opposition is presented to the wishes of their Ma- 
ker ! Tell the covetous man that he is laying up wealth to the 
neglect and ruin, of his soul, striving for perishable riches, and 
neglecting to secure that prize which is superior to the world 
itself; tell him he must sacrifice his evil and mercenary de- 
sires, and seek the Lord, and him only, with full purpose of 
heart, and oh ! see how he will recoil from the injunctions 
and commands of his heavenly Sovereign ! Tell the man 

25 Oo 



290 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OP MESSIAH. 

of pleasure that he must mortify the deeds of the body and 
restrain his animal appetites, " deny ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present 
world," and he will revolt at the idea of being placed under 
such restraint and subjected to such control. Tell the man of 
business that he must not suffer his mind to be engrossed 
with the cares and concerns of this world to the exclusion 
of the interests of the world to come, and you will find him 
conjuring up innumerable apologies for his heathenish neg- 
lect, and many pleas of necessity will be urged to rob God 
of his due. Tell the man of political strife that he must hon- 
our his king and all that are in authority, in order to fear his 
God — and his evil nature becomes predominant, and he re- 
jects the counsel of his God to exhibit his independence of 
man. — These are proofs of enmity to God which are before 
our eyes every hour of the day, and which we are absolutely 
forced to observe in the respectable and (as they are termed) 
refined ranks of life ! 

And all this bears the marks of actual rebellion ! "We 
must call him rebel who aims at the downfall of God's 
throne, would abrogate his laws, who by his example as 
well as precept tends to overthrow the system of his Divine 
legislation. Now I find this in the heart of man. Is there 
one who would not repeal the law of God ? Is there one 
lukewarm soul who would not wish that the laws of Heaven 
were more suited to the apathy of his own feelings ? What 
does all this prove, but that our fallen, corrupt nature is 
sunk to the lowest depths of debasement ? What argument 
do I need to prove the evil of our hearts naturally, when we 
have every day's observation to convince us of it ? Shut all 
books — never suffer me to read the learned metaphysical 
neatness of men on this subject : the evil, the deadly 
and contaminating evil, is too plain to need any additional 
proof. 

All this, too, shows the aggravation of sin. After we 
have heard of the incarnation of our Lord, his persecutions, 
his miracles, his ignominious but glorious death, his resur- 
rection, his ascension, his atonement and advocacy, and 
after his being seated at the right hand of the Father, 



THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 291 

" Where he ever liveth to make intercession for us" — after 
all this, to shuffle and trifle with the Saviour who has thus 
bought us with his blood : surely, if anything will make us 
hate ourselves, considerations like these must have that ef- 
fect. 

IV. "We are taught, however, in the text, the means by 
which his enemies are to be overcome r " The Lord shall 
send the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou in the 
midst of thine enemies ;" and the co-operation of his peo- 
ple — " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, 
in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning : 
thou hast the dew of thy youth." 

By " the rod of his power," we must understand his sceptre. 
It is a Hebraism, and may easily be explained by another 
passage : " For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem." In Isaiah a similar allusion 
is made : " And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem 
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of the roots." Both 
these passages have a direct allusion to the propagation of 
Christianity, and there is no doubt but the rod or sceptre 
which is to produce in the world such benign effects is the 
Gospel. 

In what, then, is its strength ? 

1. Its evidence. So mighty in the evidence of miracles 
and the fulfilment of prophecy, and so calculated and suited 
to the capacities of all, that its truth is felt alike in the ex- 
tremities of the world, I need not surely argue on the au- 
thenticity of its Divine origin. # # # * 

2. The manner in which it is conveyed to the mind of 
man. It carries with it the air and port of Divinity, so that 
all who hear its doctrine are ready to exclaim, " This man 
speaketh as one having authority : surely no man ever spake 
like this man." Who that has ever read and compared the 
doctrines taught by the apostles, and those treated by the best 
and most refined of heathenish writers, has not been struck 
with the wonderful difference of their style and manner ? 
One is all hesitation and tremour, as if fearful that they are 
treading on hollow and unsafe ground. But look at the 
apostles — bold and positive in their teachings — and you are 



292 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

convinced by your own feelings that the veil is drawn by a 
mighty hand. 

3. Its strength is exhibited by the manner in which it dis- 
plays and shows man to man — -by awakening within him a 
sense of conscious guilt and an emptiness of heart ; a want 
generally of something which he knows he has not ; an un- 
easiness of feeling which we cannot well describe ; a con- 
tinual thirsting, we know not for what. — But the Gospel re- 
solves the enigma, and shows man his state. St. James 
speaks as of a mirror, and thus man feels the Gospel true, 
as it comes in contact with his own private thoughts. — This 
is, indeed, its strength, and I hesitate not to declare that it 
is by this means alone that men are brought to believe the 
Gospel to be the word of God. God makes it appeal to 
the heart and not to the reason. Not one in a thousand, 
if any, is ever convinced by cool reasoning on evidences 
of Scripture authenticity, but by the heart being affect- 
ed. We would not, however, be understood as underval- 
uing the arguments which may be urged on the side of 
the Gospel ; they are useful, and serve to steady the minds 
of our youth against being led away by the infidel publica- 
tions of wicked men ; men who, by their obstinacy and re- 
bellion, are not unfrequently given up by God to believe 
a lie. 

But we believe that God works upon the hearts of those 
who do not actually reject his word, and gives them proofs 
of the truths of the Gospel by deeply implanting them in the 
heart. For " The word of God is sharper than any two- 
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Thank God we 
have such a powerful instrument to work with. Distant 
would be the day when we might expect the gathering in of 
the heathen to be completed, and the grand millennium 
commenced, if we had first to convince the mind, by reason, 
of the truth of the Scriptures, the Divinity of the Saviour, 
the doctrine of the atonement, and thus reason him into a 
belief of the whole process of salvation. Thank God, he 



THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 293 

lias devised other and more simple means ; and the readiest 
and surest way to be convinced of the Divinity of Christ's 
mission, our fall, and the efficacy of his atonement, is to 
rest a full reliance on the Scripture way of salvation, and 
try by practice the plans which Almighty God has pro- 
posed. 

4. But its strength lies more in the infinite compassion 
and tenderness of the Redeemer and of God to his creatures^ 
than in anything else which the Gospel displays. It may 
show how fearfully he has fallen from God f done despite to 
his commandments, and broken his law ; but that is not 
sufficient to entice him back to the shepherd of souls. You 
may talk to the felon of the heinousness of his crimes, of 
the aggravation of his iniquities, and yon may enter at large 
with the traitor on the enormity of his rebellion, but it will 
produce no gratitude to the authority which instituted the 
means of his punishment and stamped his crimes evil. But 
show him his pardon, or tell him by such simple means he 
shall be saved from the effects of his transgression, and you 
inspire him with love and gratitude. O ! show to a sinner 
the death and sufferings of our Lord ; show him how his 
judgment is suspended ; that there is nothing God so much 
hates as the putting him away ; that all is the effect of God's 
love to him— it is this which subdues enmity to the kingdom 
of Christ : " We love him because he first loved us." This 
is the principle on which the sinner comes to Christ, under 
such circumstances ; the principle of love, and not of fear : 
this is the rod of his strength which shall be sent out of 
Zion. 

But it is "to be sent forth." The Gospel is to be sent 
forth as the instrument to subdue the world unto Christ. 
Yea, it has already been sent forth ; and see the results. It 
was never sent yet without effect. None of you will pre- 
tend that it has been preached to you without effect, saving 
effect to many, and improving to all. Now, as it follows 
as a consequence of the Gospel being sent, that many are 
saved, and others improved, who have been under its influ- 
ence, if all Christians who have been blessed by its influence 



294 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

and saved by its means would but exert themselves, Eng- 
land entire might be immediately improved, and its national 
vices and sins corrected by its more general and particular 
propagation. By extending the work, by carrying preaching 
into hamlets and obscure villages (and let it be understood 
that we are come to this), if we will we may illuminate the 
world. Do not ask me how it is that God has made the sal- 
vation of one man to depend upon another. So it is, and 
that is sufficient. Remember, it is on this principle that we 
are continually acting ; parents are anxious to instruct their 
children, and God has enforced it as a special duty, and the 
child looks to the father for direction and help. — It must be 
sent forth. ##**#* 

5. "We may learn from the text that God on some occa- 
sions grants days of power : "His people shall be willing in 
the day of his power." He grants special power for the re- 
moval of obstacles : such instances of his power are not 
rare. — We have seen those powers of the earth who, by 
their direct opposition, have frustrated the designs of our 
missionary counsels and the spread of the Gospel of Christ, 
so shaken by the Providence of God, that in the end Chris- 
tianity has been planted in soils formerly the most unfriendly 
to its vegetation. — The nations of the earth have been sha- 
ken, and the consequence has been the general diffusion of 
the word of God, and in time we shall reap a rich harvest 
from that seed which is now sowing. 

It was the case in this country (England) at the time of 
the Reformation. God removed, by the strength of his rod, 
by a special power, all those barriers which appeared insur- 
mountable : he unlocked the prisons in which the Holy 
Scriptures were imprisoned by languages ; he raised up men 
mighty in controversy, and full of holy zeal and the power 
of his Spirit ; he overthrew the prejudices of ages and es- 
tablished his truth in righteousness : they " were giants in 
those days." * * * * * * 

But this passage has special reference to the influence of 
the Holy Spirit on the consciences of men. — This Spirit 
working in the hearts of men and in the Christian churches 
—-these outpourings of the Spirit of God — seasons of special 



THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OP MESSIAH. 295 

influence were known in the earliest ages of the Christian 
Church. We read of the day of Pentecost. * * * And 
have we not witnessed like effects in our own land ? In- 
stances are in our own recollection. Early ages of Meth- 
odism. * * * And these instances of the special influence 
of the Spirit we are taught to expect the nearer we approach 
the final triumph of the Gospel. They are forerunners of 
that blessed period in which all the world shall be subject 
to the sceptre of Christ ; a time which we may reasonably 
believe is not far distant. God appears to be making his 
way clear ; his heralds have proclaimed his will, and it ap- 
pears to be accomplishing: " Behold, I will send my mes- 
senger, and he shall prepare the way before me : and the 
Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even 
the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in ; behold, 
he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Thus these special 
outpourings of his Spirit are merely preliminary visitations 
to his final possession of the world ; mere preparations for 
the ultimate and universal knowledge of our God. * * * 
* * The herald has gone forth, and the passage quoted 
is as applicable now as in the Baptist's days. Look at other 
passages: " O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up 
into the high mountain : O Jerusalem, that bringest good 
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up, be not 
afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God !" 

" Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and 
his arm shall rule for him ; behold, his reward is with him, 
and his work before him." Do we need stronger encour- 
agements ? Here are actual promises of his Godlike de- 
signs, and commands for his people to co-operate with him, 
— We must go up into the mountains, and behold the vices 
of the world. And then it is, when the Church does her part 
well, that we have these strong assurances : " The Lord will 
come and work with his strong arm : he shall conquer !" 
What delightful anticipations ! These will be the results : 
"The whole earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea :" " The desert shall blos- 
som as the rose." 

6. We are taught to expect the co-operation of his peo- 



296 THE CHARACTER AND CONQUESTS OF MESSIAH. 

pie, — When God shall send forth the rod of his strength in 
that day, the day of his power, the people. shall be willing. 
No allusion is here made as to the peculiar manner in which 
they will show their obedience, and we are left to surmise 
upon this point. 

They will not doubtless be afraid to publicly confess their 
Lord. By this I do not mean that general and fashionable 
confession which we are apt to make — a general profession 
of the excellency of Christianity, and a profession of the 
Christian faith — but a willingness, in season and out of sea- 
son, in whatever company, to preach by precept and exam- 
ple the doctrines of Christ, reproving improprieties in whom- 
soever observable, and on all occasions frowning down ev- 
ery attempt to lessen that reverence due to sacred subjects. 

There will be a willingness in his people to propagate the 
doctrines of their faith in every possible manner. His peo- 
ple will manifest a willingness to suffer also should it be 
necessary. God has in his Almighty Wisdom so order- 
ed affairs that he never yet granted special days of power, 
but his servants were endued with special strength and for- 
titude of mind suited to the exigencies of the times. Thus 
he supported the martyrs, and they exhibited a cheerful 
willingness to suffer in the cause of their Master. Thus it 
was with the Founder of Methodism ; he too was willing in 
the day of his power. Men too will likewise be found 
" in the day of his power," to carry the light of his Gospel 
to the dark, unchristianized parts of the world. View the 
blessed men who have been sent by various denominations 
of Christians ; view them in the most destructive climates 
labouring in that cause to which God has called them ; and 
shall not we say that we live in the days of his power ? Is 
not every Christian community moved by the same ardent 
spirit, actuated by God himself? Are there not evident 
proofs that God is signally pouring out his Spirit upon the 
nations of the earth ? And are not his servants willing to 
sacrifice their homes, endeared to them by every domestic 
tie ; willing to leave their country, high among the nations 
of the world for its liberties and privileges, to go forth in all 



THE CHILD SAMUEL. 297 

probability to return no more, but become speedy martyrs 
in the cause of our blessed Christianity ? 

This is the willingness mentioned in the text, which shows 
a supremacy of love, a mighty disinterestedness. — But his 
people shall be willing in the days of his power to contribute 
their property, or, rather, the property with which God has 
blessed them, to support the cause of their Redeemer. 
u Him that honour eth me, I will honour." 



SERMON XL VII. 

THE CHILD SAMUEL. 

ADDRESSED TO CHILDREN. 

1 Sam., iii., 10.— Speak, Lord, for thy servant fceareth. 

This is a short text, and therefore easily remembered ; 
let us consider the history of little Samuel and his mother. 

1. She was greatly afflicted because she had no children ; 
for this was a mark of reproach among the Jews. But 
mark her conduct : she told her affliction to the Lord ! she 
vented her heart in prayer. Mothers, is this your practice ? 
Do you retire to the Lord in every time of trouble ? No 
wonder that the sorrows of some persons oppress them so 
much ; they never bring them to the Lord ; they are deter- 
mined to bear the load themselves, and they often sink un- 
der it. They say they are too much afflicted to pray ; they 
will not suffer God to be a partaker of their grief. Yet 
how unreasonable is this ! The mind feels strangely re- 
lieved by the sympathy of a fellow- creature ; how much 
more by His who " can be touched by the feeling of our in- 
firmities." Pious Hannah was a praying woman ; in the 
midst of her complaints she always came to her best Adviser, 
(But perhaps some are here who, in the time of their 
trouble, have made a vow to the Most High, as Hannah 
did : have you kept it ? Remember, " the vows of God are 
upon you.") ###### 

Eli saw her praying, and thought she was drunken, for 

Pp 



298 THE CHILD SAMUEL. 

she only moved her lips — she was praying in her heart ! ] 
know no finer expression of prayer than this, her lips moved 
mechanically to her inward prayers ! It is that prayer 
which gets to God, fervent prayer ! You say, in preaching, 
" from the heart to the heart ;" and if you can be affected 
by it, how much more God, in whom all perfections are of 
the finest tone ! It often happens that such a soul is dis- 
couraged by the view men take of their state. Eli reproved 
her for being drunken. But poor Hannah was not drunken ; 
she was a woman of a sorrowful spirit : "I have," said she, 
" poured out (not wine into me, but) my soul unto the Lord !" 
Yes, her soul was like water ! such was her sorrow. 

And what was the effect of Hannah's prayer ? Why, 
what was likely to be the effect of such a prayer ? She was 
a true Israelite — she prevailed with God, and her counte- 
nance was no more sad. 

Hannah had a son ; she called him not by any family 
name ; she was most solicitous to show her gratitude to 
God — she called him Samuel. O how pretty a name ! It 
means "asked of the LordV But what did she do with 
the child? (See chap, i., 27, 28.) "I have," said she, 
"lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth." Thou hast 
given him to me, I lend him back to thee ! (My name 
John. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ##} 

Parents ! did you ever consider your children as being 
not yours, but lent to you by God ? You are but their nur- 
ses ; and are you nursing them for eternal life or eternal 
death ? Instead of nourishing them with useful instruction, 
are you making them to drink certain poison by nursing 
them for the fashions of the world ? 

Children ! did your parents ever yet give you to the 
Lord ? My dear children, ask them when you go home ; 
if not, it would be better that you were orphans ! You 
would then become the children of Deity — the children of 
Providence — God would employ some one to train you 
up for himself. Mothers ! The Gracchi. — Have you ever 
considered these things ? I believe God has often removed 
a foolish mother out of the way rather than suffer her to in- 
jure those lovely innocents her daughters. # # # # 



THE CHILD SAMUEL. 299 

A,nd you do them an irreparable injury ! * * * * Con- 
formity to the world is the great plea, but there must be a 
transforming from the world. I plead not against educa- 
tion ! God forbid ! I know its value ; but there is a differ- 
ence between that and making your children like puppets 
hopping upon a wire, or training them up in all the fashions 
of the day. But, you say, " You would make them singu- 
lar." It is better to go to Heaven with the, few than to hell 
with the multitude. But believe me, you will not hurt their 
prospects in life by such a training : I never knew a daugh- 
ter trained in the fear of the Lord whom the Lord did not 
prosper ! Perish the fashions — only save their souls ! 

Fathers ! did you ever lend your sons to the Lord ? (But 
you see no fruit? Taylor or Johnson.) (Perhaps you are 
disposed to say, I gave them to the Lord in baptism. Did 
you ever seriously consider what you did at baptism ? You 
made an oathi that they should be kept from the pomps and 
vanities of this wicked world ! Have you performed your 
oath .? You swore to your child at the holy font, and will 
you have the world believe you are perjured., or liars, or hyp- 
ocrites ?) * # # Parents ! lend your children to the Lord to- 
day, and never get up in the morning without imitating 
Job's example — offer sacrifices for them : and let the even- 
ing sacrifice be regularly performed likewise. In their ed- 
ucation, whatever you do, do it with an eye to eternity ! Oh ! 
look a little beyond the grave ! Conceive the case of chil- 
dren cursing their parents at the day of judgment for such 
an education as you give them ! Many such instances will 
there occur. There are many things which will lead to 
harm, though they appear innocent at their outset. Virtue 
and vice go a long time in parallel lines, and vice keeps vir- 
tue in view a long way. * * * The physical and moral 
evils of dancing. * * * The Chief Baron's Daughter. * * * 
% Look we now to Samuel's conduct In chapter ii. it is 
said, " The child did minister unto the Lord." Remember, 
none of you are too young for this ; it is not said how soon 
Samuel began to serve the Lord, only " the child was 
young." Should I be asked how soon a child may begin to 
serve God, I would say, " So soon as that child is able to serve 



300' THE CHILD SAMUEL, 

the Evil One ; so soon as he knows what is wrong. " The in* 
ward check he feels for the wrong is a proof that the Spirit 
of God is with him, as it was with Samuel. I have known 
many who served the Lord from their youth up, and many 
who died happy in the very morning of life. And oh ! how 
pleasant a sight is a holy child ! If spared, what a holy 
man. * * * Gray hairs in the service. * * * " It will save 
you from a thousand snares." * * * Benson at Kingswood, 
# # # And oh! how pleasing also to parents! What joy 
must have filled good Hannah's heart as she came up year 
by year and brought him " his little coat !" (Chap. h\, 19.) 
Children ! as you increase in years and stature, you ought, 
like the blessed Jesus, " to increase in knowledge and in fa- 
vour with God and man ; " for it is said of Samuel, " He 
grew and was in favour both with the Lord and also with 
men." 

Now see how the Lord reveals himself to such children ! 
He passes by Eli the priest, and chooses to speak to Samuel. 
What a friendship have God's children with him ! Surely 
the Lord doeth nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his 
servants the prophets. — Noah, the flood. * * * Abraham, 
the cities. * * * When, by his judgments, he resolved to 
punish the house of Eli, he lodged the heavy tidings with 
Samuel ! God can commune with none but holy men and 
holy children, for he is holy ! " Where is there a prophet, 
saith the Lord, and I will speak to him ?" 

" An$ the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before 
Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days ; 
there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, 
when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to 
wax dim 1 that he could not see ; and ere the lamp of God 
went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God 
was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord call- 
ed Samuel : and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto 
Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou calledst me. And he 
said, I called not ; lie down again. And he went and laid' 
down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Sam- 
uel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou 
didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son ; lie 



THE CHILD -SAMUEL. 301 

^own again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nei- 
ther was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And 
the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose 
and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call 
me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down : and it shall 
be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy 
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his 
place. And the Lord came and stood, and called as at 
other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, 
Speak ; for thy servant heareth." Samuel slept not far 
from Eli's chamber in the tabernacle, for it was his business 
to keep the lamps trimmed. He was so young that he knew 
cnot the voice of the Lord, but because he was a good child 
God revealed himself to kim ! 

Oh ! how often has God called you, my children, to serve 
him ! Some, perhaps, by the loss of a parent * * * Me- 
thinks I see God waiting in the chamber of death to observe 
what effect it has upon the child. — -Some by sickness ; and 
God has again restored them. * * * Some by dreams — all 
of you by checks of conscience : did you never feel incite- 
ments to prayer ? Oh ! if you had followed them, God 
would have spoken to your young hearts. * * * Begin to 
serve the Lord to-day ; seek him by prayer. # # # 

Some of you he is calling in another way — to minister to 
him in the world of spirits ! The seeds of death are in you ! 
Oh ! keep the lamp well trimmed here until it blaze in glory ! 

Parents, behold your children ! Children, behold your 
•parents! #.-##-.#.# 

•jjf 3S* •«* *o* 3fi* ^rc* 

* # * * # # 

26 



302 THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 



SERMON XL VIII. 

THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 
ADDRESSED TO CHILDREN. 

1 Chronicles, xxviii., 9. — And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy 
father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind : for the Lord 
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts : if thou 
seek him, he will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake him,, he will cast thee oSf 
forever. 

There is a time when giddy youth will listen to the word3 
of wisdom. A dying parent will inspire attention, and in 
proportion as that parent has been kind and loving you will 
treasure up his words. Hear, then, the dying words of _Da- 
vid ! a good man ; so good as to be a man after God's own 
heart. He was about to go the way of all flesh, and to leave 
Solomon fatherless ; and he was young and tender, like the 
ivy clinging round the parent oak, but was about to be 
torn from it : David therefore stood upon his feet ; he mus- 
tered his little remaining strength, like dying Jacob, who 
strengthened himself and sat upon his bed to bless his little 
ones. 

Parents ! are you as intent on the spiritual welfare of 
your children as the dying monarch ? Is not your first con- 
cern their temporal advantage ? There are two kinds of 
religious parents in the world. * * * You are anxious that 
they should gain applause from men, and not the approba- 
tion of God ; you seek to leave them swimming in the full 
tide of human prosperity, not thinking that the mighty deep 
may be so swelled by a blast of pride as to produce a whirl- 
pool which will swallow them up forever and ever. What 
prospect has a dying parent leaving his children behind him 
in the broad way to hell ? 

Children ! is this the case with your parents ? Are they 
early instilling into your minds the notions of human great- 
ness and neglecting your immortal parts ? Do they ever 
summon you around the fireside, and say, " Come, ye chil- 
dren^ and I will teach you th© fear of the Lord I" — (Senti- 



THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 303 

ments of Alexander the Great.) — How many children will 
have to trace the cause of their eternal destruction to their 
parents ! They are, indeed, often the cause of their tempo- 
ral destruction. (The story of the boy who bit of! his moth- 
er's ear !) You love them, and are careful for their health ; 
but you would be monsters if you did not. — The love of the 
bear for its cubs is equal to yours, if not superior ! David's 
superiority is in training them for heaven ! * % # 

"And thou, Solomon my son." How sweet! my son! 
Oh ! how the little heart swells at the words my son ! my 
daughter ! mine / * * *: " Know thou the God of thy fa- 
ther. 1 '' Could he have recommended his God in sweeter 
terms? " The God of thy father /" It is well said that ex- 
ample is better than precept ; the parent may give good 
counsel, but if he cannot say, " The God of thy father ," it 
were useless. 

Parents ! you are, I will hope, accustomed to recommend 
to your little ones the fear of God ; but can you do it by 
saying, " He is your father's God ?" — " Be ye followers of 
me," &c, should be written on every parent's forehead !-— 
The real parent not only calls to heaven, but leads the way ! 
Parents ! God has clothed you with a tremendous power ! 
You may be the greatest blessing or the greatest curse to 
your little ones ! — a help or a hinderance. 

But what is it to know God ? It is not merely to know 
that he exists. " Acknowledge him in all thy ways." But 
how is this to be done ? David explains it in the following 
words : u Serve him." # # # * # 

(It may signify either barely an act of our understanding 
and judgment, or also an act of our choice and affection,) &c. 

But you say, " how can a child serve God ? Does he need 
servants to wait at his table ? Has God any wants ? or, if 
he has, can a child supply them ?" You also say, " I have 
heard of little Samuel being called to minister to the Lord 
when he was very young, but then it was in the tabernacle." 
Well, Samuel's service did not differ from the service God 
requires of you, and this you will see clearly if you remem- 
ber what it is to serve another. Your parents have ser- 
vants, now what is their business ? To obey their masters 



304 THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 

and mistresses, to do what they require in household affairs, 
Now the service of God is the same ; it is to do what God 
requires, or, in other words, to keep his commandments. 
How you may attain to this power I shall explain hereafter ; 
I shall here only show what these commandments are ; they 
are two : Love thy God, and Love thy neighbour, 

I. Love God with all thy heart ! love nothing like him, 
for you owe no one so much love as you owe him ! " Oh," 
says Mary, "I love mamma more than any other being.' , 
Believe me, I want not to detract from your love, but re- 
member, God gave you that good parent, and you should 
love the Giver more than the gift. If I were to present you 
with a little token of my love, I am sure you would keep it 
for my sake, and I dare say you would love it ; but would it 
not be foolish in you to love the gift and not the giver ? 
" Oh yes," say you, " I would only love the gift for the sake 
of the giver ; I would love the giver most, but I would also 
prize the gift." Now this is what I want ; I want you to 
love God most who gave you your kind parents, and yet to 
love them for his sake. God gave you good parents that 
you might be induced to love him by what you see of his 
love in that gift. And how often have I known God to take 
away the parent from an ungrateful child that would not love 
its God ! Take care that this is not your case. By loving 
God supremely you will give the best proof of your love to 
your parents, for they may in all likelihood be preserved to 
you in long life, to train you up in the fear of the Lord ! 
This, then, is the first commandment: "My son, give me thy 
heart !" 

But what proof will you give of your love to God ?* 
1. You will avoid everything which would be displeasing 
to him (of prayer and reading of the Bible I shall speak by- 
and-by) ; improper company you will not mix with ; a child 
that does not love God you will not take to your bosom. 
# * * The speaking of improper words yourselves will 
not once be thought of, nor will you suffer an evil thought 
to have any place in your minds : the Sabbath-day will be 

* See Appendix, p. 307. 



THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 305 

regarded as the Lord's day ; and you will give it to the 
Lord. 

2. You will not only avoid all that is evil, but you will do 
all the good you can ; you will meekly show forth the love 
of your God by setting it off with all its attractiveness in a 
holy life and conversation. Believe me, you might all be 
preachers ! You startle, but I repeat it, you might all be 
preachers, though not all pulpit preachers. The child in 
Ceylon. * * * The child reproving the clergyman. * * 

But I told you there were two commandments : the first, 
Love God ; the second, Love thy neighbour. " But who is 
my neighbour ?" Doubtless your parents are the first in 
this reply. Next to God comes their claim, for they are to 
you in the stead of God. But is there a little child here 
who needs this exhortation ?— I fear there are some who do 
not love them enough ! Oh ! if you only knew how much 
they love you, you would love them yet more and more. 
Some of them are poor, and obliged to toil almost day and 
night to preserve you in a little decency and to give you a 
little useful learning. Perhaps, when you are asleep in bed, 
your anxious mother is yet sitting by her little fire consult- 
ing with her husband about your welfare. You are their 
last concern at night, their first care in the morning ; and it 
is very hard work to make their little pittance afford you a 
plentiful meal ! Perhaps they are very often obliged to deny 
themselves of their scanty store that you may have enough, 
and that you may be clothed as well as their little income 
will allow. When you go home to-night, my poor little 
ones, whose parents' lot appears so hard, look up into your 
father's face and see the furrows which his daily labour has 
made upon his wasting frame ! Take hold of his hand ! 
feel how hard, how rough it is ; more like horn than human 
flesh. See there the effects of his daily toil ; in the sweat 
of his brow earning his daily fare ; and while you hold his 
hand, again look into his face, which perhaps betrays the de- 
cline of his natural health and strength, and ask him, " Fa- 
ther, for what have you toiled so hard ? Father, what have 
you laid up for your later years after so much hardship ? 
What is to support you when these hands are no longer able 



306 THE COUNSELS OF A DYING FATHER. 

to perform your daily task ?" Ask him these questions ; 
and when the feelings of his heart will permit him, I doubt 
not but he will give you this reply : " It is true, my child, I 
do toil hard, but it is not for myself ! My own wants could 
be easily supplied. I want but little, nor that little long ; 
but I labour for my boy, I weary myself for my girl, that 
they may be comfortable, and that I may give them some 
useful learning to fit them for their future walk through life. 
This has always been my care, and it was not possible for 
your mother or me to make any reserves for that time when 
the infirmities of age should lay us aside. Your wants have 
always swallowed up our little earnings; and the only de- 
pendance we look to for these few remaining days or years 
is the love of our little ones ! That is all the treasure Ave 
have been endeavouring to lay up in store, and we have 
spared no pains to increase it." * * * * 

Oh ! my poor little ones, would not your hearts swell at 
hearing these words ? and could you be hindered from 
clasping your parent's neck, mingling your tears with his, 
and saying, " Father, you shall have my love." * 

But some of you have not a father. * * * The command- 
ment is beautifully expressive : " Honour thy father and 
thy mother." The mother is the weaker vessel, and she re- 
quires more of your love ; her tender heart is more suscep- 
tible than a father's, and that will ivoiind her delicate spirit 
which would only grieve your father. If she be your only 
parent, you owe her double love! The father's and the 
mother's should both be offered to her ! And oh ! what is a 
mother's love ! Ask a mother ! nay, she cannot tell you, 
but you may read it in her actions. You forget the time 
when you were a little loathsome creature, covered from 
head to foot with the smallpox — one mass of putrefaction, a 
disgusting spectacle to every one. Your nearest friends 
would scarcely touch you. Who but a mother would press 
the loathsome object to her bosom ? Who but a mother 
could gaze upon the spectacle without a feeling of abhor- 
rence ? she, with increasing love. The more you suffered, 
the more she loved! the more disgusting you became to 
others, the nearer she pressed you to her loving heart. 



THE COUNSELS OF A I>YING FATHER. 307 

si She could not forget her sucking child." Or when your 
body was filled with deadly fever, and your very breath 
tainted the air with impurity and filled the house with in- 
fection ; when all forsook you, who but a mother would 
hang over you and breathe the putrid atmosphere, regard- 
less of her own life in the preservation of yours ! — Oh I the 
love of a mother ! — Grieve her not ; the least token of dis- 
regard to her mild restraints will wound her tender frame; 
will you, then, instead of joy, give her sorrow ? You will 
only know her full worth when you know her want, as I do. 
For nine long years that sweetest word in human speech 
could never hang on my lips — " my mother !" Oh ! the very 
remembrance of the slightest provocation will wound you in 
the tenderest part, when she is removed ! and I do think that 
such a remembrance would be the angry ghost of me ! 

And yet such children there are, who provoke even a 
mother's love to such a height as to tear her heart from 
them ! (Taylor's Sermon. * * *) 

But some of your parents are placed above dependance, 
and are not obliged to toil thus hard for you ! But is your 
love to be abated to them ? Oh no ! the duty of the child 
to the parent is the same in every circumstance : in riches 
as in poverty ; and I am sure they value your love more than 
their wealth. — What is now theirs, will be yours ; and in this 
respect you. are under increased obligations to love them ; 
their greatest joy is your welfare ; let them have the rejoi- 
cing of the Gracchi. 

But, after your parents, the command extends to all ; love 
all with a love of good- will ; bear hatred to none. — See the 
Indian who was robbed. ***** 

Appendix. — Illustrate " To know God" by paraphrasing 
Jeremiah, ix., 24. This knowledge implies to act up to 
it, and love him in return ; hence David says, " Serve him" 
How ? By doing his commandments. The first is, " Love 
God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength." How do 
you show this ? 1st. By getting frequently into his com- 
pany. 2dly. By frequently reading his word as if you 
heard from your Creator father. — But this is only domestic ; 



308 the christian's inheritance, 

how is it shown in social life ? 1st. By abstaining from bad 
company — Peter. — 2dly. By reproving others. — God has 
often blessed infantile preaching. 

The second command is, " Love all men." How ? "With 
a perfect heart. (Apple, or, rather, pear.) A willing mind, 
not as the unwilling schoolboy. * * * * 

Why with this perfect heart ? Because God searches the 
heart ; a power only possessed by him. Man may be de- 
ceived, for he looks only on the outward appearance ; but 
God's eyes are as a flame of fire ! [See Proverbs, xvii., 3.] 
Look at Ananias. — God searched the heart as with a can- 
dle ! Solomon believed this truth which David taught him, 
and acted accordingly. — See 1 Kings, viii., 39. "And the 
thoughts :" — even the idea before matured into a thought, 
and the thought before acted on. 

"Before our lips pronounce the word, 
He knows the sense we mean." 

"Afar off?" ****** 

How are you to seek him? 1st, Read his will. (Eli- 
sha's mantle — child and bad bargain.) 2dly. Do it with 
prayer, or it will be useless. (" Me love God"" — Cora forsake 
him.) Refusing to obey ; to read, to pray ; disobeying pa- 
rents and mingling with the ungodly leads to a bad end — 
"cast oft forever." — See 2 Chronicles, xv., 2. — Solomon. — 
Conclusion. — Jack, or poor man in Dublin visited by stran- 
gers friends. ****** 



SERMON XLIX. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S INHERITANCE. 

1 Cor., iii., 22, 23. — Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, 
or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are yours ; 
And ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's. 

St. Paul was a faithful messenger of the Most High ! had 
been a violent persecutor of Christianity, but was miracu- 
lously converted. Wherever he preached the power of the 



309 

Holy Ghost attended his word ; and signs and wonders were 
wrought. — We do not mean miracles — but God acknowl- 
edged his own word by his holy ministry. 

He planted many churches, and when removed to others,, 
he supplied his lack by epistles, in which, as in the text, his 
heart expands. * * # One reason of which was to correct 
the contentions of his Corinthian brethren about various 
preachers. * * # * * * 

* # * " Christ is God's" — " the Lord's Christ" — neces- 
sary he should be human for sacrifice ; inferior to the Fa- 
ther, and such inferiority will continue till this kingdom is 
given up, &c, and Christ resumes his wonted dignity, as ex- 
plained Heb., i., 3 : " Who being the brightness of his glory, 
and the express image of his person, and upholding all things 
by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged 
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
high." He is now only in the glory of the Father ! then he 
will have the glory which he had of his own " before the 
world was." We shall inquire, 

I. What is it to be Christ's ? 
H. The privilege of such. 

I. What is it to be Christ's ? 

Not a mere name of Christianity: all Europe has this, yet 
not Christians — nor an attachment to this or the other reli- 
gious sect. # ,#.#*#,- # 

1. A Christian is one who obeys the commands of Jesus ; 
makes his word his rule ; does nothing but what is well 
pleasing to him ! brings his actions hereto. 

2. A Christian is one who has the assurance that he 
pleases God in all things ! the witness of God that all he 
does is right — a Divine impression that he is accepted in the 
beloved — a son of God — [Young] — and he knows it; for, 
" Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." 

3. Such a one abides in Christ as the branch in the vine 
, — feels he is grafted into Jesus, as he felt the seal of adop- 
tion, and bears the fruit of holiness, — See the process of 



310 THE CHRISTIAN^ INHERITANCE. 

grafting — thus the branch, made inwardly good, bears out- 
wardly the fruits of holiness — perfect love to God and man ! 
4. He is made a member in Christ's mystical body, Christ 
the head ; he has the closest communion with God ! — Cut 
off a member of the human body [and how intensely does 
the whole suffer ]; but preserve it, and, if the body is healthy, 
it will partake in all its joy. * * * The blood of the mem- 
ber is the same with the body. * * * So we are made par- 
takers of the Divine nature, and restored to what Adam 
lost. *#*#### 

% % # Are you Christ's ? is his word your rule ? have 
you the witness ? is your fruit unto holiness ? does Christ 
live in you? If so, all is yours. 

II. The privilege of such. 

Paul ', or Apollos, or Cephas — the ministers of Christ all 
yours ! — By some you have been brought to God, by others 
built up. — See this material edifice — many instruments were 
employed; yet all had their use, and you enjoy the fruits, 
&c. So the spiritual temple ! — sometimes a Boanerges 
comes, cuts to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and 
of the joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and 
intents of the heart. Next, a Barnabas gently pours in 
the balm of consolation ; yet, whether the whirlwind or the 
still voice, you know it ; they are all your servants in Christ 
Jesus ! 

Paul was a pillar ! — his judgment clear and solid- — his 
epistles are one chain of argument — nervous. Apollos was 
eloquent, and drew his hearers with the magic band of love! 
They hung upon his lips. Peter was famous for zeal ; a na- 
tive eagerness predominant in his temper, which urged him 
on to the most bold and generous undertakings. But it is 
the same spirit, and provided for your edification. Some for 
digging deep, &c, &c, that the edifice be perfect and en- 
tire, lacking nothing; yea, prepared as a bride adorned for 
her husband. 

" The ivorld." The Christian has nothing to do with its 
follies — crucified — knows that its friendship is enmity against 
God — keeps himself unspotted from the world. But the ne- 



331 

cessaries which the body requires from the world, God has 
promised — he can dismiss all anxiety — the wicked/ee<ion their 
death; carking care ! — The Christian hears Jesus say, " Be- 
hold the lilies" — and draws the inference himself — in want of 
food ? " See the sparrows." — He pledges himself: " Seek 
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all 
these things shall be added unto you," And he changes 
not. " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." God will 
tax the world. — " Life /" his eternal life is hid with Christ 
in God ! Yea, he has committed the keeping of his soul to 
Him. — But his natural life also — till He permit, it cannot 
perish. " Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets 
no harm" — but " evil shall slay the wicked." See Simon 
Peter — dungeon — hell devised to chain him — nor even then 
remitted the keepers : " He will seal the stone and set the 
watch." The night arrives — he is asleep ! though Herod, 
the Jews, the Church ; though earth, and heaven, and hell 
awake ! He knew for him to live was Christ, and to die 
was gain. The word is given — angel flies — devils avoid 
the light — in the power of u I am he," he comes : " He that 
sitteth in the heavens laughs, the Lord holds them in deris- 
ion." — See Daniel — the Hebrew children — though men and 
fiends — beasts, and elements all combine, nothing can harm 
you. — " Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I 
am thy God." 

"Death" — no cause of terror — though we do not know 
what it is, 'tis gain to him — gloomy road, but it leads to 
heaven. The gloom may impress him with aive, but he is 
not afraid — though the lightnings flash, &c, death is his. — 
Abba, Father, with more assurance as he approaches home, 
and while feeling the pressure of the dying frame, &c. 
(Moore.) When I spake of Jesus, 

11 Thing's present" — The spiritual estate ; all spiritual 
blessings in Christ ; every promise, every possible blessing 
man can need ; every spiritual good which can enrich the 
soul — all are yours. Ask ! and yet he is " able to do ex- 
ceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or think." 

" Things to come" — A veil hides them — an eternal weight 



312 the christian's inheritance. 

of glory ; and after God has opened his treasures and ad* 
mitted us to a participation (for we are not merely to behold 
his glory), and multiplied this through eternity — yet an eter- 
nity of glory is to be revealed. But Paul could not utter it ; 
we must die to experience it. Light within light, and glory 
within glory. 

Paul could get no higher. See his climax : he exclaims, 
"All are yours.'' Oh ! child of God, see the entailment of 
thy estate in Christ Jesus. God sets no value on anything 
but Jesus — empties heaven to thee, since " He spared not 
his own Son, but delivered him up" — to death for thee. If, 
then, thou art reconciled by his death, much more, &c. — 
he has received again his well beloved, and now to part 
with him no more. — Freely will he give everything. He 
gave his greatest — nothing equal to Jesus; therefore he 
will keep back nothing inferior. We shall walk with him 
in white, for we, through Christ, are worthy. * * 

******* * 

Sinner ! " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
lost." Thou art not Christ's ; then what is thine ? Art 
thou laying a claim to these things in common with us ? 
Divide the text and take thy portion; it is only "in this 
life /" But hell awaits thee ! Conscience shall be let loose 
at thy spirit. Mock ? " Whether thou art lost or saved, 
we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are 
saved and in them that perish. To the one we are a savour 
of death unto death, or to the other a savour of life unto 
life." God will be glorified by both. 

Thus have I endeavoured this day to open to you our 
commission for the ensuing year. In the order of God's 
providence he has removed from you those who for the last 
two years laboured heartily in the Lord, those who exhort- 
ed you, with many prayers and tears, night and day. They 
are removed to another part of the vineyard, and we enter 
into their labours. 

But, alas ! who is sufficient for these things ? Well might 
St. Paul cry out in all the feeling of his soul, " Brethren, 
pray for us." Yes ; do indeed pray for us, for we trust we 
have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S INHERITANCE. 313 

We have this day broken the seals of our message, and of- 
fered you all in Christ Jesus. 

Not that we bring you another Gospel; we offer that 
which ye have heard from the beginning ; we again tender 
to you all things in and with Jesus ! This was the word of 
the Gospel which ye first heard from our venerable father in 
God, Mr. Wesley. With much labour he sowed this Gos- 
pel-seed from this very spot ; he was a good man, full of 
the Holy Ghost and of faith ; for, though he lived not to see 
the crop which is now produced, he believed firmly that it 
would multiply and increase ; and therefore in the morning 
he sowed his seed, and in the evening he withheld not his 
hand, not knowing whether should prosper this or that. * * 
We have seen that the Lord was with him, and that the 
Lord made all that he did to prosper. But, though the 
hand of the Lord was with Elijah, of what use would that 
have been to the Israel of God if it were not with Elisha 
likewise ? When our Elijah was removed from us, many 
were the cries which followed him to heaven : " My father, 
my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof," 
and we saw him no more. But the mantle dropped, and 
has yet been preserved among us ; the seed which he plant- 
ed has ever since been watered by his successors, and the 
harvest has increased from year to year. In this conse- 
crated spot stood the venerable Fletcher; and from this 
hallowed stand the immortal Coke often procured a shower 
from on high ! — I will say nothing of the living characters 
who have from year to year refreshed this garden of the 
Lord: their names are sweet to you, their memory will 
never be forgotten ! 

Well ; though your ministers may be changed, God chan- 
ge th not, neither does the word of his grace. " All things 
are yours." We first give you ourselves — our time, our gifts 
shall be employed for you — our prayers shall be for you — 
our tears shall be a memorial for you — our cries shall pierce 
heaven for you — the unutterable groan shall swell for you — 
our strength shall be wasted in your service — our lives shall 
be devoted^ under God, to you — till death shall release us 
27 Er 



314 JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 

from a world of care to meet the Great Shepherd and Bishop 
of your souls. 

It is not unlikely that some of you, or some of us, may be 
summoned away ere the year shall close. It is calculated 
that Methodism furnishes an annual return to the world of 
spirits of fifteen thousand souls. The society of Dublin may 
be required to make up a proportion of that number ! 

"Who first shall be summon'd away 1 
Most merciful God, is it I ?" 

The Christian has no fear on this head ; though timid na- 
ture may start an objection, and in the trembling accents 
of fear, whisper " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
of the living God," the triumph of faith drowns the feeble 
tones of nature's cry, and challenges all accusers : " Who 
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God 
that justifieth, who is he that condemneth ?" " Whether 
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, 
or things present, or things to come ; all are yours" — all is 
mine ; yes, death is yours ! Thus living, preparing to meet 
your change, you will not only find all things present are 
yours, but things to come shall be yours — yours in Christ I 

" No condemnation now I dread, 
Jesus, and all in him is mine ; 
Alive in him, my living Head, 

And clothed in righteousness Divine, 
Behold, I approach the eternal throne, 
And claim the crown, through Christ, my own." 



SERMON L. 

JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 

Hebrews, iv., 15, 16. — For we have not a high-priest which cannot be touched 
with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet 
without sin. 

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 
and find grace to help in time of need. 

Of all subjects upon which the human mind can dwell, 
that of redemption is the most amazing, whether considered 



JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 315 

With regard to God or man : with regard to God, the jus- 
tice which required and the mercy which gave Jesus ; with 
regard to man, the depth of depravity into which he had 
fallen, or the height of holiness to which he may be raised. 

Many persons, and indeed good men, when considering 
this topic, carry their minds to the cross, and there leave 
them ; but this is not the most important. * # # We have 
an Advocate ! — 

I. Consider the character and qualifications of our Advo- 
cate above ! 

St. Paul never fails to set the Gospel before us in its most 
alluring point of view; at one time, beseeching us by the 
tender mercies of God, so abundantly displayed in the re- 
demption scheme, and in our text by the tender compassion 
of our High-priest, Christ Jesus. 

He is writing to Jews, whom he wished to wean from 
rites and ceremonies; but how tender of their prejudices ! 
He was well conversant with the human heart ; he knew its 
attachment to some one thing above others, and particularly 
when this was considered excellent in its own nature, and 
truly so with regard to its author ; he was willing that, 
though the New Jerusalem is founded on the apostles of the 
Lamb, the gates should bear the names of the tribes of Is- 
rael ; to have made a Babel of Judaism, and raise Christ's 
(Church) on its ruins would have been absurd; the Jew 
would always say, " We know that God spake by Moses." 
But man will always give up a lesser for a greater good ; 
upon the priesthood the whole law depended; and if he 
could convince the Jew of the superiority of the claim of the 
new priesthood to that of Aaron, he might hope for success. 
He shows them that this most sacred office in the Jewish 
polity was continued in our dispensation (verse 14): " We 
have a great High-priest that is passed into the heavens, Je- 
sus the Son of God ; let us therefore hold fast our profes- 
sion" — and now he describes his character and our priv- 
ilege. 

The high-priest was also the advocate with God for the 
people ; he had not only to offer the sacrifice to God, but to 
make intercession thereon. In this latter part of his duty we 



316 JESTTS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 

shall describe the High-priest of our profession — a comfort 
able character for believers to behold. 

The necessary qualifications for an advocate are, 

1. Wisdom, If an advocate is not possessed of this, he 
can never succeed ; he must have the fullest information on 
every possible point, &c. — That he might enter the better 
into our state, he took our nature on him and was made 
man; he entered into our circumstances ; though, as God 7 
he " knew all our members ere they were formed," yet he 
would know them as man likewise, that he might be Jesus 
more effectually — that we might not despondingly say, 
"Doth God know?" — This wisdom our High-priest pos- 
sesses in an eminent degree — himself " the wisdom of God? 7 
— "Logos" — " In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom." 
— He knows whereof we are made, and reads the heart. 

This was not possessed by the high-priest under the law ;.. 
it made man that had infirmities. — He was not " the very 
image" &c. — he knew not the dispositions of the people for 
whom he was sprinkling the blood, nor the sincerity of their 
humble claim for mercy ; he could not read their hearts ; 
but ours does ; and with pure consciences we appeal to him 
and say, "Lord, thou knowest all things." Wonderful 
Counsellor ! Well might Paul call him a Great High- 
priest. 

2, Influence, If not this, with all his wisdom, our advo- 
cate could not succeed ; he must be removed far above the 
transgressor in influence, and nearly allied to the offended ; 
as the Son of Majesty ! 

The high-priest had no influence abstract from his office : 
he too was a sinner on a level with the party for whom he 
interceded, and had no dignity or worth to undertake our 
cause : a mere man ; himself liable to punishment ; nay, a 
son of man ; confessed his own desert of the same punish- 
ment with the sinner by the sacrifice he offered for his own 
sins ; he had no boldness therefore. * * * 

But Jesus is the Son of God ! equal to the Father upon 
one side, and yet on the other allied to the offender ! A kin 
to both ! We are his brethren ! and yet he is the Father's 
well-beloved and only Son !-— heir of all things ! in whom 



JESTJS 0UK. SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 317 

fiis soul delights. Such is his influence, that the Father 
will freely give all things for his sake : " Whatsoever ye 
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glo- 
rified in the Son."-— He repeats it : Ask what you will He 
has all power in heaven and on earth, and has been exalted 
in our nature to the Mediatorial throne ; we have a friend at 
court ! These two qualities of the High-priest are given in 
the 14th verse : " Seeing then that we have a great High- 
priest, that is passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, 
let us hold fast our profession." 

3. Sympathy. This quality is beautifully expressed:: 
** We have not a high-priest which cannot be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like 
as we are, yet without sin,' 5 — -Sympathy means love, ardent 
love to the creature arising from having experienced the 
same himself. * * * In vain the two former qualities con- 
stitute an effectual advocacy, unless he entered feelingly into 
the party's case ; and this could not be unless he had been 
in like circumstances. An advocate may plead for a bribe, 
but his heart cannot compassionate. 

The high-priest could not enter into the feelings of the 
people ; his rank placed him far removed from many of 
those scenes in which they needed peculiar sympathy. 

It behooved Jesus then to be made in ail things like unto 
his brethren ; in all their afflictions he was afflicted ; he en- 
tered into their sorrows before he would die for their sins, 
that he might be a merciful High-priest, &c. He knows 
whereof we are made ; he had before him the view of the 
intercession he should have to make for us, and anticipating 
the advantages thereof, his heart rejoiced, his tongue was 
glad , and for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, 
that he might be afole to succour them that are tempted. 
Thus also it behooved him to suffer; "he was a man of sor- 
rows !" 

The other ingredient in sympathy is love ; ardent, burning. 
— Love induced him to undertake the task ; and now that 
tie has accomplished at, will his love abate ? Nay, he loved 
them the more he suffered ; yea, loved them to the end! — 
■O I the bowels of Christ J 



318 JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST,. 

Examine this a little more. 

1. " He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." 7 
This- may mean the natural calamities, sufferings, heaviness, 
&c, consequent of our union to a body of flesh and blood ! 
(Watson on the Resurrection — praying in a corner, &c.) 

Poverty ? He was poor indeed ! — had nowhere to lay 
his head; often on the ground — sometimes he lodged at 
Bethany, even after the honours of his entry into Jerusalem. 

Family affliction ? See him at the grave of Lazarus ! — 
groaned ! felt it acutely ! he wept ! 

Suffering"? Look at his ! — The angels are yet pondering 
over it — and remember, this was for you ! In every state 
he can compassionate ; in every case you may hear him 
whisper^ u I have felt the same" He knows hoiv, the best 
way, to succour such. — (Dwell on a few instances.) 

There is something infectious in sorrow ; tears will com- 
municate. See the woman with the issue of blood ; no 
need now to say, " Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is, 
to bring down Christ from above.' ! He is nigh to all them 
that call upon him ; a sigh can reach his heart ; he can yet 
be touched. 

2. But he was tempted as we are, and that in all points; 
Satan ejected all his darts at him ; emptied the quiver ; and at 
certain seasons He said emphatically, " This is your hour and 
the power of darkness-." — Hell was let loose at his devoted 
spirit. No sinner was ever tempted as he was. Satan ap- 
peared in a tangible shape. — Tempted with riches, honours, 
pleasures ; hard thoughts of God ;. fear of holding- out ; with 
anger — " to call down fire," &c. — with pride r &c. — The 
world and Satan both allured ; every bait was used ; some- 
times so sharp, he cried : " O Father, if it be possible, let 
this cup pass from me."— But so far from its passing away, 
it increased, and he cried, " My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me ?" His confidence as his Father seemed 
tried to the uttermost ; yet though he uses the term God y 
he cries my God, &c. He withstood them all — want of 
bread was tried — without sin ! — he conquered for us ; though 
he. fainted., he never fell L * * * It is no sin to be tempted^. 



JESUS OUR SYMPATHETIC HIGH-PRIEST. 319 

and all may resist ; for our strength is that of Christ. It 
rests on us ! 

Now, Christ feeling all these, pleads for us ; how, we 
know not ; it is hidden from us, and we ought not to ask ; 
but we see his fitness. 

II. Our duty, and the way of performing it. " Let us 
come boldly unto the throne of grace" This throne occu- 
pies all space. Jesus sits on it ; it is his mediatorial throne. 
It is not a throne of justice ; it has been sprinkled upon by 
the blood of the everlasting covenant, and is rendered a 
propitiatory, not a justice seat. — See the Holy of Holies. — 
" Come boldly" not like the rationalist, cold and unfeelingly ; 
nor like those who cry, dear Saviour, sweet Jesus, &c. ; but 
the middle path, having a sense of what we, the addressers, 
are, and whom we are addressing. 1. Come as Elias came, 
fervent prayer, 2. Remember it is a throne of grace ; one 
to which we have no claim ; and that our Jesus is now Lord 
of all !— yet exempt from tormenting fear, from a faith in 
our exalted advocate ; for faith claims it through him, and 
fastens upon his worthiness. 

Contrast the timidity of the high-priest under the law; 
the sacrifice he provided might not have been all attended 
to ; but God himself provides the sacrifice here, and says, 
" Come, for all things are now ready." 

1. And having approached it, what do we ask ? Mercy ! 
• — love in action. Explain the word. — This adapts itself to 
our infirmity (verse 15). We want Jesus to sympathize, to 
compassionate. We join the cry of Bartimeus ; we want 
to roll our cares on him ; he has invited this ! O ! how 
sweet to feel now that Jesus is with us in the fire ; to hear 
him say, " Fear not, I am with thee" 

In all our temptations he keeps, &c. # # # 

But, again, our best actions cannot stand without mercy. 

-—Jonah. ###### 

2. Grace to help. This must mean the Spirit of God. 
" Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we 
know not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the 
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
cannot be uttered" — the Spirit supporting us in every trial 



S20 ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 

and temptation. Mercy for the past, and grace for the fu- 
ture. This refers to the second clause in verse 15 — " 'Tis 
grace that keeps us day by day, and will not let us go." 

Temptations are not removed, but grace is imparted. O ! 
how sweet the feeling when, after a sore conflict, the angel 
of the covenant comes and ministers to us grace ! 

But we are not to ask only; faith is bold: " My voice 
shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord ; in the morning will 
I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Faith ob- 
tains mercy and finds grace ; all heaven's treasures are open 
to the believer ; he goes in and out. — See H. Moore on 
prayer. 

The mourner is encouraged ; he looks at God's law as 
broken ; look again through Christ, and see the breach 
healed. 

God's throne is erected here ; come and look upon it. * 



SERMON LL 

ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 

Romans, viii., 32. — He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 

No chapter so beautiful. Its burden is the privileges of 
believers. 

1. Privilege, Justification by faith : " There is, therefore, 
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Here is 
the privilege, and here the proof they give of it : " No 
condemnation." 

2. Privilege, Regeneration by the indwelling of the Holy 
Ghost. How awful the 8th verse : " So, then, they that are 
in the flesh cannot please God." But (9th verse) " Ye are 
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of 
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his." 

3. Privilege, The " knowledge they have of the things 
freely given them of God," They not only know that they 



ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 321 

are justified by faith, but they have the evidence of it (16th 
verse) : " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God." 

4. Privilege, The right and title to everlasting life. Not 
only sons, and the witness of it, but the prospect of the in- 
heritance connected with it (17th verse) : " And if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if 
so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified 
together." 

5. Privilege. He reverts to our present privileges to show 
the helps we receive in preparing us for them, and conduct- 
ing us to them. 

1. The helps of Providence (28th verse) : " And we know 
that all things work together for good to them that love 
God, to them who are called according to his purpose." 

2. The helps of grace (26th verse) : " Likewise the Spirit 
also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we should 
pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh interces- 
sion for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" — and 
these chiefly in prayer. 

Thus are we led to all good. Then reviewing all these, 
he exclaims in triumph (31st verse), " What shall we then 
say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be against 
us ? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all 
things ?" 

The gift of Christ is the only ground for any legitimate 
trust in God. If Christ had not been given, there would be 
no foundation for hope in God. 

I. Examine the important fact asserted. 
II. The inference deduced from it. 

I. Examine the important fact asserted. 

He spared not "his own Son, &c. Suppose the fallen 
state of man — made upright. — He lost the indwelling of the 
Holy Ghost, and then became corrupt — could not extricate 
himself. In God's mercy he found remedy — then God de- 
termined to give his Son ! — " Spare" has two senses. 

S s 



322 ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 

1. He did not keep him back ; there waa no obligation in 
God thus to give us Jesus. Herein is love ! &c. ; no ob- 
ligation of justice. 

2. He did not excuse him from suffering. " For if God 
spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare 
not thee." " For if God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains 
of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" — How awful a 
sense! — " Spared not his own Son!" but demanded that 
suffering which, considering his moral nature, endured as 
much as we could have done to eternity! — •' His soul was 
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" — and his soul was 
made an offering for sin — the Divine nature could not 
suffer, but gave efficacy, &c. — True, his human weakness 
did at times shrink, as in the garden — the Lamb opened his 
mouth ! — My God, &c, joined the cry of the murderers. — 
But die or Justice ! — 

It was God that delivered him up — whatever was done 
by Judas or Pilate was done by permission : " Thou couldst 
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee 
from above." 

" For us" — not our remote advantage merely, as in resur- 
rection, but in our stead — that we might not perish. Here 
arises the doctrine of a vicarious offering, as in the 53d 
chapter of Isaiah. 

" For us all." Not some men of all countries, but u for 
every man" — though the text primarily speaks of believers, 
yet not confined to them. 

II. The inference deduced from it: "All things" neces- 
sary and salutary. — 

1. All the comforts of this life which he sees it is safe 
and proper we should enjoy. God has the prerogative of 
knowing what is best for us — he knows each man's condition 
so well that he can best cater for us — be thankful that he 
deigns to do this. — Connect even our temporal blessings with 
the atonement of the Lord Jesus. 

Man has a right to nothing but punishment, as one guilty 
of high treason ; so man is a rebel — he has forfeited all. 
No common mercy to him. Whatever he has more than 



ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 323 

hell, it is for Christ. Hell is his only due. — How temperate, 
then, in food and clothing. # # # * 

2. But the phrase " all things V chiefly alludes to spiritual 
blessings, and especially the five privileges before mentioned,, 
The interrogation here is an assertion — to suppose the con- 
trary would be ridiculous I Three positions may support 
this inference : 

1. He gave him to enemies, traitors, rebels. If he gave 
his Son to these, what will he give to us who have thrown 
our arms away ? " For scarcely for a righteous man will 
one die ; yet peradventure for a good man some would even 
dare to die." 

" But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while 
we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, 
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from 
wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were 
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being 
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." — " While sinners" 
not saved, but to be saved. 

2. He gave him unsought, and even undesired. — Heaven 
would fully satisfy our desires; but he has given what is 
above our highest desires. — The first step to man's recovery 
was taken in God. (Enforce the interrogation.) The elect 
now, and what, then, will he withhold ! 

3. He gave us his best gift. There is no act of God's 
power but we may conceive a greater ; but in this conde- 
scension ' His own Son ! here is the emphasis — he was a 
Divine person. — If a creature, the apostle would have mag- 
nified the greatness of the purchase with the small price 
He has no such other gift. — Omnipotence is limited here — 
we can ask no blessing adequate to this. — Hence, what is 
the pardon of sins to God ? Nay, he delights in it. This 
does not now require any sacrifice on God's part. Why, 
then, should he withhold inferior blessings? We are warranted 
to ask till we think of some gift greater than Jesus. But he 
gave his Son that he might give us pardon — make us heirs, 
and give us the Holy Ghost. — Now, shall he lay the founda- 
tion, and go no farther ? Where would then be his consist- 
ency ? How is he the same ? How could he be said to be 
without shadow of turning ? 



324 ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST, 

Lastly, he will freely give us all things. — No regard to 
merit or worthiness in the receiver. — Apply this to man. 
As he had no such regard when he gave his Son, so he yet 
acts freely — pardons, sanctifies, saves to heaven freely. — 
When man sinned, God asks not, "What does he deserve? 
but, What does he need ? — A Divine Redeemer. Just so 
now : the question is the same : " What do they need ? M A 
pardon. — A sanctified soul, &c. — whatever it is, let it be 
freely given ! — True, we should take our unworthiness into 
account, but God does not ; that is not his measure. Our 
unwillingness to ask, and our timidity, &c, is partly account- 
ed for by this. To ask anything of our neighbour, we find 
he impoverishes himself more or less in serving us; we ought 
to remember that God has them for the very purpose of be- 
stowing, and that he is paid when man receives. The feast 
is prepared, and if not participated in by the guests invited, 
he is the party injured. — All things are ready; the expense 
has been incurred. — If we asked these things before Christ 
was given, there would be no room for hope ; the expense 
of obtaining them would be too great — the sin of the world 
now is the not receiving " the great salvation." God has 
made a marriage for his Son, and them that are invited will 
not come. ###### 

Application. 

1. We see the importance of evangelical principles. The 
sophist thinks that principles have no effect on his practice, 
— Yet there are some points of doctrine which he must be- 
lieve before his heart can be right. — There is no religion 
without trust in God, and this grounded on the doctrines of 
the Gospel — this hangs on two points : the Divinity and the 
Atonement of Jesus Christ. You cannot think too highly 
of Christ and of his blood. All the religion you can live 
well with, or die safely with, is that of the cross ! 

2. We see the view we should have of God the Father. 
He loved us ! This should influence us in our prayers. — 
Regard him not as a harsh being — as if bribed by Christ's 
death to look on us. Christ's death is not the cause of 
God's love, but the effect. Infinite mercy exercised itself 
with infinite justice. Then think highly of God the Father. 
Never doubt but God loves you ; angels knew and felt his 



THE STRONG HOLP. 325 

goodness before ; but till now they knew not how much he 
could love, especially such unlovely objects. — To whom am 
I going when I pray ? Not to an enemy, not to a stran- 
ger, but to my friend, my best friend, who has proved him- 
self such. I ask pardon, holiness, heaven from him who 
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. 
This makes faith strong and powerful. True, I approach 
him through the Mediator, but he is of his own appointing 
by a sacrifice, but it is offered by himself. 

Finally, while we see the foundation^ it teaches the need 
of building on it. "What use without a superstructure ? 
How foolish would a man look who laid a foundation only ? 
And what fools are we in the sight of God and of angels if, 
while we talk of the cross, &c, we go no farther — make no 
application to it — erect no building upon it — apply not for 
the all things. — These are with Christ — when you feel con- 
vinced, accept of Christ. — Lose no time — -then with him God 
gives pardon, and holiness, and heaven — without him, no- 
thing ; with him, anything. Believe, then, on him.— Trust 
yourselves in his hands. ***** 



SERMON LIL 

THE STRONG HO LB. 

Zechariab, iz., 12. — Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope ; even to-day 
do I declare that I will render double unto thee. 

The language of the prophet is beautifully lofty. Expa- 
tiate on this.- — He addresses the Church of God as then 
established on earth under the beautiful feminine appellation 
of daughter of Zion : " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; 
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh 
unto thee : he is just, and having salvation ; lowly, and ri- 
ding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." " He 
is just ;" emphatically so ; not more just, but just in the ab- 
stract ; there is no justice but with God. — Neighbouring gov- 
ernors were not just ; or if at times just, not so always ; 
28 



32'6 THE STRONG HOLD. 

but he is always just ; therefore fear not, but rejoice. — "When* 
ever the king makes his approach, the people rejoice because 
of the honour — " and having salvation;" the two kinds of 
salvation from the guilt and power of sin, for Christ's king- 
dom is the kingdom of heaven, and this is the prerogative. — 
Again, alluding to other kings, conquerors who brought their 
trophies with them. — But his salvation is not of a temporal 
only, but of a much more important one ; he comes, and 
salvation comes with him! "Oh ! that with yonder sacred 
throng." * * * Hosanna. 

But if the prophet had ceased his description here, the 
daughter of Zion might have feared to look on him because 
of his great glory. Had he described him as coming like 
an earthly monarch, with all the appendages of pomp and 
show, it is true they might have rejoiced, but they could not 
have hoped to be on familiar intercourse with him ; he there- 
fore adds, he is lowly, contrasting him herein with all earthly 
monarchs. ###### 

Contrast his great humility, and show how repugnant is 
pride to Deity. * * * "And riding upon an ass" — to show 
that he is familiar with his people, and free of access to all, 
however poor. %*#### 

Having given this sublime imagery of his person and 
manner of entrance among them, the prophet proceeds to 
show what kind of sovereignty he will exercise, differing 
herein from all earthly monarchs. " I will cut off the char- 
iot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the 
battle-bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace to the 
heathen ; and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, 
and from the river even to the ends of the earth." He 
comes not ushered in by the battle-bow or the war-whoop, 
&c, and refuses any warlike weapon to aid him ; the clashing 
of sabres or the roar of war, the Indian yell or the more re- 
fined thunder of the cannon, are his disgust. " Art thou a 
king then ?" " My kingdom is not of this world." But he 
shall speak peace ; he conquers by all-powerful love; he uses 
no other weapon, but by this makes them yield to his love's 
most gracious power, &c. ; and by this means only, his do- 
minion shall at last extend from sea to sea ; it shall spread 



THE STRONG HOLD. 327 

over the earth, and by this gentle, godlike means, all na- 
tions shall be subdued, and righteousness " shall cover the 
earth, as the waters cover the sea." What a glorious prom- 
ise ! Lord, accomplish it !— 

I. What the prophet means by " prisoners of hope." 
II. What by "the strong hold." 

III. What by " rendering double unto thee." 

IV. The time when he will do all this — "To-day." 

The subject is of the highest importance. It concerns our 
everlasting salvation. Hear, then, for eternity ! * * 

I. What the prophet means by " prisoners of hope." 

The whole passage is highly figurative. We can know 
nothing of our own state or of the other state of existence 
in a world of spirits without figures of earthly things. 
Hence, with regard to ourselves, the Scriptures make use 
of a language of figures borrowed from the most loathsome 
diseases and imperfections of our bodies, to express the far 
more loathsome state of our spiritual maladies : " The dead 
hear, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lepers are cleansed," 
&c, &c. — And elevated as these metaphors are, they come 
far short of conveying a perfect idea of our guilt and misery 

But in our text he introduces another chain of metaphors 
highly figurative, and represents men as prisoners. In the 
11th verse he says : " I have sent forth thy prisoners out of 
the pit wherein is no water." The weary traveller, spent 
with fatigue and benighted in his journey, seeks about for 
the cooling stream to allay his parching thirst, and all in 
vain : and in his wanderings falls into a pit, out of which it 
is impossible to escape ; and to add to his misery, the pit is 
dry, and in this miserable condition he is almost frantic by 
torture and despair. This figure has a retrospective and 
prospective meaning. It is just, the state of the sinner here ; 
he wanders about in this strange country, which he is obli- 
ged to own is not his home, thirsting after pleasure, and 
finding nothing to allay that desire, he plunges into the pit 
of sin, where this thirst cannot be supplied : but it has an aw- 
ful prospective to that pit where there is, indeed, no water. — 
Dives * * # and is just consonant with the New Testament. 



328 THE STRONG HOLD. 

In the words of our text, the prophet changes the figure 
as to their state, but still continues the appellation of prison- 
ers, but calls them prisoners of hope. 

# * # Mankind are called prisoners, and when our Lord 
preached his first sermon at Nazareth he took for his text 
those words of the prophet, " The Spirit of the Lord God 
is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
rood tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound." We are by 
nature in the prison of sin, and Peter's state is no bad anal- 
ogy to ours : he was bound with chains ; and not only so, 
but had two to guard him, and he was asleep. The sinner 
is the same, and he is guarded by the infernal agency, who 
endeavour to keep him asleep lest he should see his situa- 
tion. The word of God says we are led captive by the devil 
at his will. And as Isaiah says, the poor prisoners sit in 
darkness ! — See the marginal passages. — But we are pris- 
oners of hope, 

1. Because we are out of hell; and so long as we are, 
there is hope. 

2. Because Christ's Spirit has not ceased striving- with us, 
and therefore there is yet hope of us ; we may yet close in 
with the offers of mercy, and consent to be saved by grace. 

3. Because Christ has not ceased to intercede for us in 
heaven, and the power of his prevailing prayer may not be 
ineffectual for us. 

But even believers are in a sense prisoners of hope— 
" And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first- 
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, 
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 
For we are saved by hope ; but hope that is seen is not 
hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ?"* 
We groan for the redemption of the body, for we are saved 
by hope ; it is Heaven's gift to cheer us in this mortal vale, 
and buoys our fainting spirits up. All such are encour- 
aged. ******* 

II. What by " the strong hold." 

* Rom., viii, 23-24. 



THE STRONG HOLD. B29 

** Turn to your strong hold." This is Christ Jesus ; for in 
the 11th verse he says that it is " by the blood of the cove- 
nant that the prisoners are sent forth." " On this rock I 
will build my church," and all the art of man, nay, all " the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It is called a 
strong hold ; it is not built on a sandy foundation, against 
which the floods shall prevail, but it is on the rock of ages / 
Turning to it implies, 

1. Turning your back on the world and sin, for you can- 
not turn round to this strong hold until you do this. 

2. It implies that you consider it — take a survey of and 
examine it.— God does not require you to adopt his religion 
before you have examined it ; he says himself, " Come and 
let us reason together." Bring forth all your arguments; 
and the result of our reasoning will be, that you will find 
that " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
as snow ; though they be red. like crimson, they shall be as 
wool." His blood can wash out every stain. — It implies 
that you consider its security — whether it is the " strong hold" 
that you want. 

3. It implies that you survey its spaciousness ; take a look 
at its hiding-places and coverts from the storm ; its battle- 
ments and towers, its buttresses and bulwarks, and therein 
you will find that there is enough for all, enough for each, 
enough for evermore. 

4. Having satisfied yourselves on the survey, it requires 
you to turn into this strong hold ; for of what importance is 
it to ascertain its use unless you avail yourselves of its ben- 
efits ? Go into your capital, your city of refuge, and there 
lay hold on the horns of the altar, and find security and pro- 
tection. (An enemy has you in his power, but not far dis- 
tant is a strong hold, which if you will venture to attain, 
you will therein find ample security. Make the effort, then, 
ye prisoners of hope ; rally into it ; you are unsafe out 
of it. 

May not this apply to tempted souls ; not to fight the en- 
emy out of this citadel ; not to venture on his ground, but to 
xun to your hiding-place when attacked; he cannot follow 
you there.) 

Tt 



030 THE STRONG HOM>. 

III. What is meant by " rendering double unto thee. 97 
Render double ; this is a strong mode of speech to assure 

them of finding therein the utmost safety. Double for all 
thy fears ; fear not to make the effort ; s-truggle through thy 
fears, and I will pay thee double ! Oh I the love of God ! 
See how he confirms his promise I declare I will do it : be- 
lieve my promise. As I live I will fulfil it. — I positively as- 
sure thee I will perform my word. — This is equal to his oath ; 
as if he had sworn by himself because he could swear by 
no greater. 

* * * What heart of stone. * * * * 

Query, may not this be considered as the proclamation of 
the king who is mentioned just before as coming to his peo- 
ple ? They had been enslaved, and he had provided their 
ransom, and calls on them to flee to his strong hold. 

IV. The time when he will do all this : " To-day." 
When ? No need to put this off to the day of thy death ; 

God is now, yea, always ready ; to-day is my time, says 
God ; perhaps to-morrow would be too late. — But, again, 
in that day when thou turnest tome with all thy heart. — Ere 
that clock strikes. * * * The to-day, therefore, refers to God 
in the first instance, and to man in the second. In that day 
when thou art willing to see thy danger, and willing to run 
to my strong hold, and take shelter beneath the cross, on 
that very day I will give thee that security and protection, 
and that peace in thy heart which will prove the earnest of 
heaven. 

Application. — Ye prisoners of hope, &c, &c, I advise 
you now to flee to the strong hold ; it may be the last invita- 
tion you will receive before you are hurried to the tribunal 
of God. — (The barren fig-tree.) The sword is whetted and 
brandished over your devoted heads ;. and God may this 
day withdraw the last beam of his oft-neglected Spirit; 
M Behold, I stand at the prison door and knock." 

(Having enforced the motive of fear, enforce the motive 
of love in our text.) Mind not the scoff of the atheist, &C* 
— If he will engage to answer for you at the day of account, 
why then give religion to the moles and the bats ; but if yotr 
must answer for yourselves, fly into your strong hold. 



THE FAR OFF MADE NIGH. 331 



SERMON LIIL 



THE FAR OFF MADE NIGH. 



Ephes., ii., 13. — " But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off 
are made nigh by the blood of Christ." 

When Paul first went to Ephesus, he found them awfully 
given up to idolatry. Ephesus was a city of considerable 
importance — capital of Asia Minor — and well calculated to 
spread her pagan worship : the temple of their goddess Di- 
ana was there — -the pomp and splendour, &c. — the inhabi- 
tants made a gain of their godliness. On these accounts, 
great was the opposition he met with in preaching, but the 
success was equally great. They received the truth in the 
love of it, and were made free : when he wrote this, they 
appear in a blessed state — going on unto perfection— and 
hence this is the most valuable of his epistles. That their 
minds might more than ever adore the riches of the grace of 
God, he reminds them of their former state : such remem- 
brances are profitable, and we are here addressed. 

I. Our past situation. 
II. Our present privilege. 
III. The means whereby the change was effected. 

I. Our past situation. 

1. The meaning of this is in the 12th verse — " Ye were 
ivithout Christ :" 1. As a teacher from God — not subject to 
his instructions — filled with your own ways : 2. As a redeem- 
er — ye were under Satan's bondage, and none to redeem 
you, or break off the yoke ; led captive at his will : 3. As a 
Saviour — nothing of Christ in you — * ' aliens from the com- 
monwealth" common weal — knew nothing of this privilege 
of Israel — the term is expressive — how was it given ? — Ja- 
cob was praying — all darkness, internal and external — one 
drew near, and he prevailed with him ; and his name was 
changed to Israel, " because as a prince hast thou power with 
God and with men." He then exclaimed, " I have seen the 



332 THE FAR OFF MADE NIGH. 

Lord" — the term Israel means both — this was your common 
weal — you were aliens to it — explain the word — Providence? 
" strangers" &c. No promise is made to a sinner as such ; 
they are without Christ, " having no hope" — no true hope ; 
the Christian's hope is " Christ in you the hope of glory," 
"without God" &c. Atheists — not, perhaps, professing 
ones ; query, if there are any ? — but practical ; professing in 
words, in works denying — independent of God ! not in all 
their thoughts ! they think not of accounting. 

II. Our present privilege. 

Not now " without Christ" — have him as their teacher, and 
want to be assured that all they do is right — have him as 
their redeemer — bondage at an end. God appeared to Mo- 
ses, &c, so he saw you ; having begun to follow his teach- 
ing, he led you to him as the atoning High-priest, and his 
blood was applied to your consciences, and his spirit power- 
fully delivered you from the thraldom of Satan. Have him 
as your full salvation ; " for because ye are sons, God hath 
sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying Abba, 
Father" — your king ! Not now " aliens" &c. — " We have 
seen the Lord, and live" — you prevailed — you are now the 
Israel of God, sons and princes ! — such honour have all hrs 
saints — yours is a " commonwealth" — partakers of a common 
faith, a common benefit, a common hope, &c. — they mingle 
as citizens of the eame heavenly country. You are the sub- 
ject of their intercessions — the cloud of glory ! the pillar of 
fire ! the showers of manna ! the water from the rock, 
Christ ! " fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house- 
hold of God;" " not strangers and foreigners :" promises 
all yours in Christ ! — are you fatherless ? — bereaved ? — poor? 
— afflicted by bodily infirmities ? — walking in deep waters of 
sorrow? — in the fiery trials? — grievously tempted? — if a 
promise in the Bible to your circumstances, it is yours. 
Some mistake here ; Paul corrects them in the Hebrews : 
" I will never leave thee nor forsake thee :" this was to 
Joshua — all the promises are yea and amen. — Bank-notes 
to bearer. Not now without hope : 1 Peter, i., 3. Quick- 
ened with Christ. Romans, v., 5: " And hope maketh not 
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our 
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Not 



THE FAR OFF MADE NIGH. 333 

now " without God," &c. : all your works tend to glorify 
him — -as your governor, led by him — as your master, do his 
will — as your Father, you delight in and reverence him ; you 
know God, and are known of him ! 

Happy soul ! how great the alliance ! — walk with God ! 

III. The means whereby the change was effected. 

" Not by works, lest any man should boast." The blood 
of Christ ! of the new covenant sprinkled on you by faith in 
the merits, &c God and you met here at the covenant altar 
—the insuperable distance was overcome — sacrifice is provi- 
ded — God provides himself the Lamb ! it is slain, and the 
new covenant ratified by its blood ! God holy, and man vile, 
lay hold on the victim — the same altar for both ! — the Lord's 
Christ, our Jesus — the Lamb of God, our sacrifice — God's 
Son, our Saviour — all is effected in our very sinful flesh! 

1. This blood, then, brings us nigh, Romans, v., 1, 2 ; 
guilt on the conscience kept us off; this blood removes it, 
and washes the foulest- — then boldness ! 

2. By it, continual access to the throne of grace — wor- 
ship God in the spirit, &c " No condemnation" — 

3. In death all our theme ; nothing to rest our hopes on 
then but this blood. " I the chief of sinners am, yet Jesus 
died for me" — -Wesley's words — no Pharisees; and, again, 
" The way into the holiest," &c. Yes, after death the way 
is the same — the passport, " the blood of Christ"- — it is taken 
into the holiest, 

4. When arrived there, the glory in heaven will be " Je- 
sus, thy blood," &c. ; and the theme, " Worthy the Lamb," 
&c. This Jesus will be all our theme. 

—Sinner, apply now to be made nigh — for the blood to be 
sealed on thy hearts. " O Love Divine!" let it not be wasted 
on thee. His blood follows thee, crying Mercy ! spare, &c. 
Now determine — Heaven waits — angels bend, " In thy 
strength I will wait upon thee." 

Mourner ! Christ pronounces thee blest. Comfort thyself 
— God is thine ! Follow on — " the day-spring from on high" 
will visit thee — say not thy crimes are too great — there are 
those in heaven whose crimes were greater — yet washed, not 
a spot ! Oh ! believe the record true ! 

Believer ! remember thy obligations ! 



334 THE KING OF ZION. 



SERMON LIV. 



THE KING OF ZION. 



Micah, v., 2, 3, 4. — But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among 
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be 
ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 

Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath 
brought forth : then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of 
Israel. 

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the 
name of the Lord his God ; and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the 
ends of the earth. 

This Scripture was applied to the Messiah by the Jeivs, 
and that when Jesus was an infant, and when there were no 
prejudices. # * * All eyes were turned to this, the star, 
the wise men. * * * Herod moved, and all Jerusalem with 
him — a council of priests was summoned — he asked or de- 
manded of them where Christ should be born, and they 
answered his question by the text. 

The subject presents us with the character and claims of 
Him who is the hope of the Father, and was sent as a sac- 
rifice for sin. We shall select the prophecies which refer to 
Jesus as this Christ. 

I. Consider the promised Messiah in his true nature — a 
man — " come out of Bethlehem" — Jesus had his birth there. 
* * * All Scripture argues that he must be partaker of flesh 
and blood. 

But he was more than man. The prophet speaks of a 
twofold going forth, of Bethlehem, and "from everlasting." 
These words apply to more than man, the Son of God — 
God of God, eternal streaming forth of the Father. 

These remarks enable us to ascertain who this Messiah 
was. Many others came from Bethlehem, came forth of 
Bethlehem ; but we know only one who ever pretended to 
come forth in the second sense, and his acts manifested it, 
If accomplished, then, in Jesus, it makes him the true God 
as well as man. 



THE KING OF ZION. 335 

II. Consider Jesus in the character of ruler — the Messiah 
was to be "ruler in. Israel." Did Jesus answer to this? 
Did he support the office by acts ? What are regal acts ?— 
The exercise of legislative and judicial authority. 

1, The legislative consists in making- and repealing laws. 
In making them, he restores and explains the judicial law on 
the mount, and gives the explanation, not as matter of pri- 
vate opinion, but as the sense of the law not to be departed 
from ; he adds also a new law : f* A new commandment I 
give unto you, that ye love one another ; as I have loved 
you, that ye also love one another. " 

The manner of doing this shows the assumption of regal 
authority ; the prophets use a different phrase : " Thus saith 
the Lord" — Jesus on the Mount, " I say unto you;" and. 
the people felt the peculiarity of this manner; ".he spake as 
one having authority!" 

In repealing law — this is a regal act. He repealed al 
the ceremonial. "I came not to destroy," refers to the 
moral — he seldom speaks of the ceremonial; it was ready 
to pass away — a thing old. Though sacrifices were pre- 
scribed to patriarchs, and awfully given on Sinai, yet he 
repealed them all by his oimi authority — the Passover by 
his supper. He abolished the ordinances by the cross, and 
^sent apostles to declare that circumcision was nothing. — ■ 
This was an act of royalty! — ■" Sacrifice and offering thois 
wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me"— these 
abolished when a body was prepared for Jesus. He said to 
the woman of Samaria, "God is a Spirit; and they that 
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." 
*" The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, 
nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." By that word 
he discarded the Temple at Jerusalem. — After his death a 
temple opened above. Aaron's order gave place to Mel- 
ehizedeck's ; the blood of goats to Christ's; the mercy seat 
was removed to heaven, that the universe of God might be- 
come a temple for all, &c 

2. Judicially. The predictions of Jesus of the destruction 
of the Jewish polity by the Romans is important, not only 
as it shows Jesus a true prophet^ but teaches what is meant 



3'36 THE KING OP ZION. 

by " The wrath of the Lamb !" Mercy was first ofFered* — 
u if thou hadst known." — But mercy was slighted ! — No ca- 
lamities were equal to this ! — the text, " give them up !" — 
The blindness that happened to Israel was far beyond their 
temporal sufferings. — -Depth of justice, says Paul — depth of 
wisdom ! 

He is a Judge as well as Saviour — a rod of iron.- 
^When ye hear, then, of wars and rumours of wars, be ye 
not troubled," the rod is in his hand — nothing can injure 
the truth. But let the man who has slighted * * * " de- 
part from me" — " O that thou hadst known, even thou, at 
least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! 
but now they are hid from thine eyes." This is his reluctant 
work — force him not to it. 

III. The text also calls us to his character as a shepherd, 
" And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord." 
Kings are often considered as shepherds, especially [when 
they distinguish themselves by a kind administration]. If 
we find Jesus exercising this character, it confirms the 
prophecy in this respect. 

But who-, then, are his sheep ? He first considered the 
Jews — and was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Is- 
rael. — But the Gentiles also : " Other sheep I have, which 
are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall 
hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold, and one shep- 
herd." How tender ! — The whole human race then — for 
all we like sheep are gone astray. — In this view he com- 
menced his ministry — " a little flock," and the apostles sent 
to find them. Peter — "Ye were as sheep going astray; but 
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your 
souls" — but returned, brought back. * * *■ 

Distinguish the human race by the sheep out r and in ther 
fold — his fold the Church — happy the folded sheep ! 

1. What is it to be in the Church of Christ ? Not merely 
to join in ordinances and in fellowship of saints, but his r 
joined to the Lord in covenant, and he exercises a special 
care, love, and mercy in behalf of them that fear him ; if 
conscious we were sheep once astray, but are now returned,, 
let us lift up our hearts in acknowledgment of his love and 
eare, 



THE KING OF ZION. 337 

See the abundance and certainty of our supply also. 
(Psalm xxiii.) The supplies are spiritual: " He blessed us 
with all spiritual blessings." This is the adaptation of the 
Gospel — spiritual. — Riches of Divine knowledge : " En- 
riched in all knowledge unto the full assurance of under- 
standing, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God ? 
and of the Father, and of Christ ; in whom are hid all the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Riches of Divine 
strength : " They shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they 
shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not 
faint." Riches of Divine consolation: "Rich to all them 
that call upon him" — " The Lord is my shepherd." If we 
thus regard the liberality of God, and come in the act of 
faith with constant prayer, our daily history would be ask 
ing and receiving, knocking and entering in, &c 

We mark in this relation also the love and care of the 
Saviour to all thus committed to him ; we cannot have too 
high views of the love of Jesus. — How measure it ? Is it as 
his creatures ?— True, &c. — Or in his Providential care ? 
value these. — But neither of these is the rule. — Hear it, tim- 
orous soul: "X lay down my life for thy sake." This act 
is the measure — it is this that makes the love of Christ pass 
knowledge — hence his love is, 

First. Constant — he changes not — he is ever with us as a 
good shepherd. — " He that keepeth Israel will neither slum- 
ber nor sleep." The promise of " Lo, I am with you," 
was the encouragement. So Paul : " The Lord stood with 
me."— 

Secondly. Tender and discriminating care. " He shall 
carry the lambs in his bosom" — a picture of this when pa- 
rents brought their children. * * * What encouragement to 
parents ! he is the same. It may refer to youth also. The 
" young man" is an instance of his gentleness to youth. O 
young man, make him the guide of your youth ! The young 
also with respect to experience ; he regulates for these their 
trials. * * * Whatever fear we have, he will provide ! 

Thirdly. His care is effectual — gives us life — came to 
save, and does save. " I know my sheep, and am known 
of mine." Why lose the comfort of this declaration ? If 

29 Uu 



338 THE KING OF'ZION. 

we are his sheep, we shall never perish — allusion to robbers, 
U I will fear no evil." Psalm xxiii. explains this. — These 
fears, like robbers, will press us most at death, " but thy rod 
and thy staff comfort me." 

2. The reverse is the condition of those not gathered. 
They know nothing of the green pastures. * * * (Swamp, 
&c.) Yet hear his voice, yield to his hand, and suffer your- 
self to be brought back. 

Fourthly. The manner in which he exercises these offi- 
ces : " in strength and in majesty" — combined — see it. 

1. In the manner in which he stands accredited to the 
world as the Royal Shepherd. What is more majestic than 
the fulfilment of all types, every ray centring on Jesus. * 

The strength lies in its irresistibility. There are no infi- 
dels ; the Gospel is a manifestation to every man's con- 
science, &c. — " Prove it ?" I do by the hate against it. 
Why not hate Buddhism ? one frets them, the other has no 
effect. Mohammedans may go on, &c. — Why ? only ex- 
plained by this, they are convinced — a convulsive struggle 
to resist — it is not against a shadow. 

2. Look at the miracles. What a union of strength and 
majesty ! The majesty — is the man — calms the sea, and 
raises his friend. — The strength, the winds obey, and Laza- 
rus comes forth. 

3. In the teaching of Jesus this union is seen : " Never 
man spake like this man;" they meant he was more than 
man. * * * Majesty of matter — sublimity of the sufferings. 
* * * Equal in manner — not the imagery of Isaiah. * * * 
Theirs was inspiration, but coloured by the soil through which 
it flowed. Jesus' s was uncoloured ; fresh from God ; its 
simplicity is its majesty ; his mind never trembles ; he is fa- 
miliar with his subjects in all their sublimity ! 

But where is the strength of his teaching ? Have not you 
felt its strength, been convinced, comforted ? * * * Ye are 
the witnesses. 

4. See it also in the manner in which he saves his peo- 
ple ; " restoreth my soul" — to the woman at his feet — 
so now in the act of pardon — though not visible. — The 



THE KING OF ZION. 339 

majesty of the manner — no great preparations, penances, pil- 
grimages, &c, but freely on simple faith. 

There is strength also. They went forth and published 
his praise— dried their tears : the joy proved the power, the 
evidence proved the power. It is so now ; thousands now 
feel the strength. * * * If you are seeking pardon, he is not 
backward — laid down his life — pardon is now yours. 

5. See it also in his great work of bringing many sons to 
glory — the leader and captain of our salvation — march of 
conquerors at the head of victorious armies — nothing com- 
pared to the majesty of this ; carrying them on step by step, 
giving them the victory in cases of which no one else is con- 
scious, allotting them their proper work on earth, and all to 
make the harmony of heaven, and finally triumphantly lead- 
ing them in, and presenting them before the presence of his 
glory pure and holy ! 

The strength is in this, he brought them not from a sinless 
world. *#***## 

6. See it in the government of his Church : " he shall 
stand;" opposition is in vain; sometimes a hiding of his 
power, but perhaps a majesty in this. 

The strength — he shall yet put all enemies under his feet, 
and the world become one entire pasturage. 

The great result remains untouched : notice a few partic- 
ulars. The Jews shall return, and He will stand and feed 
Jew and Gentile. — Even the time is marked out ; when the 
Christian Church (she that travaileth hath brought forth) 
shall feel herself called to be a universal light. See what 
she has brought forth, the myriads in Europe, Asia, Africa, 
America, and the isles of the sea. 

It is declared, then, it shall be an abiding state of the 
Church — no more captivities — corruptions of the world, or 
the light becoming dim, or laxity of ministers * * * Till 
the name of Jesus is great to the end of the earth ! 

Application. 

1. Ministers. We are his under-shepherds — not royal 
shepherds ; therefore we can make no laws nor repeal, nor 
judge the sons of men. No such power — it belongs to Je- 



340 THE CROWNING GRACE. 

sus. Our work is to " seek and to save that which was 
lost." O for a tender concern ! 

2. Solemn admonition — he is the minister of the Father's 
justice as well as mercy ; but more awful justice because of 
the abused mercy. — Sin is folly — no sacrifice is given up by 
us ; and then heaven guided, guarded, comforted, and saved 
by the power of Divinity at last. Return unto me, and I will 
return unto you, ye sinners. 

3. Live by faith. — What to fear? He stands in his 
Church — waits to feed us continually — we shall not want ! 



SERMON LV. 



THE CROWNING GRACE. 



1 Corinthians, xiii., 13. — And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the 
greaiost of these is charity. 

In religion things are not always esteemed according to 
their value ; hence, the form is maintained — the power is de- 
nied ; gifts are preferred to grace — show to that which is 
solid — tinsel to gold. This was the Corinthian error ; gifts 
for display rather than charity which edified. — He allows to 
covet the best gifts, but yet he shows a more excellent way 
— charity ! Having showed her superiority, he then con- 
trasts with her two sister graces — these three abide> and must 
abide — they are the three cardinal graces — but the greatest 
of these is charity. 

I. Explain the meaning of the terms. 
II. Establish the truth asserted. 

I. The meaning of the terms. 

Faith is an important term in Scripture : " He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved" — high authority said 
it — and also said, " He that belie veth not" 

Definitions not often given in Scripture, but we find one 
of these in Hebrews, xi., 1 : " Now faith is the substance of 
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It is a 



THE CROWNING GRACE. 341 

Divine persuasion and conviction of spiritual and Divine 
truths — e. g. — Faith in God is a conviction of his (attributes) 
Being ( — ), self-existence, &c. Faith in Scripture is persua- 
sion and conviction of Divine authenticity. " Holy men 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Faith in 
Jesus Christ that he is the true Messiah, the Christ of God, 
the only Redeemer ; that he lived here, suffered, died, rose, 
ascended, and appeared for us at the right hand of the Fa- 
ther — " that this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners." 

But that faith which brings salvation, is not the mere result 
of rational conviction, but of Divine persuasion — of the oper- 
ation of God. It is a principle in the heart, not an opinion 
in the head. Saving faith is such a Divine conviction of 
God, as he is, as leads to seeing him who is invisible. Faith 
in Scripture implies * # * Faith in Jesus Christ, that he 
loved me, as leads to personal reliance. — 

Connected with, and resulting from this Faith, is Hope — 
define it. The object must be good, otherwise an object of 
fear. Hope looks forward to all that heaven is and has — 
rivers of pleasure — eternal life in heaven with God, &c. — 
The object must next he future — " we hope for that we see 
not." Many blessings once the object of hope, are now 
enjoyed by you. Still the great and proper object of hope 
is before you. The object must also be attainable, else de- 
spair : if heaven is not to be attained, I cannot hope for it 
But we may obtain ! 

We " can give an answer to every man that asketh us a 
reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear." 
Jesus died and revived that my faith and hope might be in 
God. " Blessed be the God and Father — a living hope — 
begotten again" — hence an heir. — "We have an earnest in 
ourselves also : " Christ in you the hope of glory." The 
promises ensure heaven if faithful to death — his word and 
oath are given. 

Thus the mind tends towards it ; hence, it is the pleasing 
expectation of future good. 

Faith and hope are nearly allied; so intimate that "faith is 



342 THE CROWNING GRACE. 

the substance of things hoped for."— -Faith has respect to 
things that are true — Hope to things good and desirable. — 
Faith can review the past — all history — look back into eter- 
nity before the world was — again can penetrate the vista of 
the future. — Hope cannot look back — always future. 

Connected with these, and proceeding from them, is char- 
ity — love, in its Divinest sense. The substitution of the word 
charity for love has injured Paul's meaning ; both learned 
and ignorant apply it to almsgiving. — Read the context : a 
man gives all to the poor, and his body to burn, and yet has 
not charity ! Divine love ! 

It has the blessed God for its great and first object ; and 
what is this ? It is his love in us reflected back on himself, 
" because he first loved us." And this love is supreme — all 
the heart. " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there 
is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." And then our 
fellow-creatures are the secondary objects of this charity. 
The brotherhood first. This is distinguished from benevo- 
lence *- # * But also all the human race, &c, &c. 

Thus all the tables are compressed into one word, love * * * 
Though the text refers our love to men chiefly, yet it im- 
plies that it springs from love to God. 

These three are nearly allied — altogether — the same 
family. Yet mark the distinction. Faith relates to what 
God has said, Hope to his promises, Love to what he is, &c. 

Faith believes, Hope expects, Love enjoys. 

II. Establish the truth asserted. 

Do not mistake Paul, as though he derogated from faith 
and hope. Lower faith and hope ? He says they are great, 
though love is the greatest. Why ? 

1. It is greatest in point of rank — talents and gifts are 
great, but faith and hope are essential — we cannot go to 
heaven without them. But love is great in its own nature 
and character. — Faith and hope are of the operation of God, 
but love is from his heart — oozing out — by love we are let 
into God. — We are called to be strong in faith, to abound in 
hope, but to be perfect in love ! We are to put on the shield 
of faith, the helmet of hope, but, above all, put on charity. 

It decides the genuineness of faith and hope. Faith can- 



THE CROWNING GRACE. 34S 

not work without love — it is the animation of faith. And 
what is hope without love ? Hope maketh not ashamed, 
" because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.' ' 
Faith sometimes has doubts, hope has fears, charity alivays 
hopes : yea, when faith and hope both stop,, charity believeth, 
hopeth, does their work. 

Charity is the end of what faith and hope are but the 
means ; the labour of love raises the top stone. 

Faith is the root, hope the buds, love is the fruit of the 
Christian's tree. — Again, faith and hope are essential to man 
as a sinner, but love was his religion before he was a sinner, 
and it is now by love that he rises above his fall and forms 
alliance with heaven. Love is the religion of heaven ! 
burning there — the element of heaven. — Again, not by faith 
and hope, but by love, we resemble God. God believes 
not. hopes not, but " God is love f 9 and by this we rise into 
his likeness. 

Wonder not, then, that love is the foremost fruit of the 
Spirit, the end of the commandment, the fulfilling of the 
law — the royal law — that it sits on the throne — the queen 
of graces. 

2. In point of utility. Faith and hope are selfish graces 
— private props. — Charity is to others like the sun in the fir- 
mament — goes about doing good. — Personally, she visits the 
sick, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked ' 7 has a wise head, 
an attentive ear, a quick eye, a heart ! makes others' woes, 
&c; has an eloquent tongue, an open hand : u When the ear 
heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it 
gave witness to me." Thus she pursues her way ; if con- 
tradicted, is not easily provoked ; whatever is said of her r 
she thinketh no evil ; she overlooks not the temporal inter- 
ests of man, but chiefly regards the spiritual, and such as 
take in the good of the world. 

3. In point of duration — abideth forever. Faith and 
hope will perform their last acts — they belong to probation. 
Faith and hope are Moses. Love is Joshua. — Faith and 
hope supply here the place of vision : " We see through a 
glass darkly, but then face to face ; now I know in part, but 
then shall I know even as also I am known." In an evan- 



844 THE CROWNING GRACE. 

gelical sense, faith and hope are not in heaven ; we are to 
hope to the end; but no end in heaven: "One glory of 
the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory 
of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in 
glory." Charity shines brightest — one glory in the believer, 
another in the spirits of just men made perfect ; brightest 
when body and soul are together. Charity is not at home 
here — the atmosphere is impure ; there is her element — she 
shall burn brighter there ! 

* # * 1. Learn wherein real Christianity consists. In 
creeds ? professions ? No ! but in Divine principles, holy 
tempers, benevolent actions. — Orthodox opinions, &c, un- 
accompanied with faith, hope, and charity, are fruitless. 

He who is without faith cannot please God — without hope 
is without God — without charity. #.#.■# 

Faith is suitable to our weakness here — sense could not 
discern. — Hope bears up in the vale of tears, holds up the 
head in the waters. — Charity converts the enmity of the hu- 
man heart. 

2. Learn the excellency of real Christianity. It brings 
faith, it inspires hope, it fills with the love of God ; and 
when this principle is universal in the world !'!'.■* * 

Is this religion ours ? yours ? mine ? Have we this faith, 
hope, charity ? a man is better known by what he loves than 
by his faith and hope. Who loves strong drink, we know 
who he is # * * So, if man love God, we know who he is ! 

Now we look for the effects of this love in his life and 
•conversation. Does your faith work by love ? 

* * * On the phrase cold as charity. * # 



€AUTI0N TO HEARERS OF THE WORD. 345 



SERMON LVI. 

CAUTION TO HEARERS OP THE WORD. 

Luke, vii., 18.— Take heed how ye hear. 

But how hear without a preacher ? and how shall they 
preach except they be sent ? Every preacher, then, is sent 
of God. 

If the religion of man is to be reckoned by the hearers, 
&c. — but, alas ! how necessary to urge the caution since so 
many hear in vain. 

I. How we should hear. 
II. Why? 

I. How? 

1. With preparation. — You expect the preacher to prepare. 

2. Fixed attention. — Not like the fool's eye. 

3. Candour. — Not a candour which compromises truth. 

4. Faith. — Mix it up with faith as a medicine. 

5. Practical application. 

6. Prayer. — On entering the house of God pray. — De- 
spise the sneer of the infidel. — O how the preacher feels 
when he is among a praying people ! 

II. Why? 

1. Dignity of the speaker. — The Lord from heaven. 

2. Importance of the subject. 

3. Its individual application to us, as well as general im- 
portance to all. 

4. General inattention. — Three quarters of the seed to 
waste. 

5. Difficulty of keeping the mind from flying off. 

6. Awful responsibility. — Judged by it. 
Application. — 1. Gratitude for the word of salvation. 

2. Arouse yourselves — wakefulness. — Anecdote of the 

Xx 



346 THE BELOVED DISCIPLE; 

Father and Son. — Does the Son begin to think then ? End' 
with a consideration of death — our hearing seasons soon 



SERMON LVXIL 



THE BELOVED DISCIPLE. 



John, xiii., 23. — Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his <Jisciple3 
whom Jesus loved. 

I. John's character. 

1. Early piety. 

2. The most remarkable trait, love, which was constantly 
evinced in his attendance on our Lord. He leaned on his 
Master's bosom in their hours of social enjoyment — "And 
in death they were not divided" — he remained with him till 
he saw him expire. 

We must follow him to the cross. 

II. How did he arrive at this ? 

He explains this, " We love him. — Yes ; there he learned 
the lessons of love on Jesus' bosom.— 1 — 1 Ep. 

III. How did he exemplify after his Master's decease ? 
Read his Epistles. — He led others to it (1 chap.). Zeal for 
God and love for man ; a burning fervour for God's cause 
and man's happiness — " What we have seen and heard we 
testify unto you." — Love. 

IV. The particular distinctions and favours conferred on 
him by Christ. — Leans on his breast. — Mount of Transfigu- 
ration — Garden — and he consigns his Holy Virgin Mother 
to his care — lived long — closed the canon of Scripture= — was 
raised to glory ! 



TEE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH. 347 



SERMON LVII. 

THE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH, 

A SUNDAY-SCHOOL SERMON. 

Matthew, xviii., 10, — Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for 
I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father 
which is in heaven. 

Symbolical actions are important. Instances abound in 
the Old Testament. They were general among the an- 
cients — -Jeremiah in chains- — Jer., xxvii.— another tears his 
garments to show the rend of the kingdom. Abijah to Jero- 
boam, 1 Kings, xi., 30— and another divides the hair, Ezek., 
v,, 2. — Jesus adopted it also, but spake and acted as never 
man did — breathed on them the Holy Ghost, and washed 
the disciples' feet. To impress them with docility, &c, 
41 He took a little child, and set him in the midst of them, 
and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, 
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven."— " Take heed that ye despise not one 
of these little ones ; for I say unto you, that in heaven their 
angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in 
heaven." 

Seldom did Jesus appear to more advantage ; he was 
aware of the value of children — was severe to those who 
would have prevented them *.*##*;* - — he has left us 
an example. It is impossible to estimate fully the import- 
ance of youth. — It is not beneath our dignity as ministers — 
Wesley kneeled in the street — it is not beneath yours either 
to notice them — Jesus loved them and noticed them. 

The importance of youth- — we expect little from the old 
—few conversions there ! — iron hand of age !— the young 
me the hope of the Church-— tender plants — -trained up by 
the assistance of the Holy Ghost. Left to themselves, they 
will become hemlock and nightshade — -the grapes of Sodom 
and clusters of Gomorrah. — But if taken up * * * * — 
This anniversary calls upon you to remember your duty 
here. 



348 THE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH. 

I. The interesting light in which the young should be re- 
garded. 

II. The manner in which they should be treated. 

I. The interesting light in which they should be regarded. 

1. As the heirs of future felicity. " Take heed that ye 
despise not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, that 
in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Fa- 
ther which is in heaven." Some think that the "angels" 
are their spirits disimbodied : — they mingle with the crowd 
there. How great this consideration! (Jer., xxxi., 16.) 
How exalted, then, our view of them ! Immortality stamps 
a value on them beyond words. (James.) Infidelity in vain 
attempts to shake our faith in this — yet we are alarmed for 
the rising generation. — Satan is trying to poison them. # # # 
A child is linked with eternity in the mighty chain ; insignifi- 
cant as he may seem, he will yet vie with angels ; there is in 
him a spirit which will yet praise God forever ; yes, their 
spirits shall behold the face of our Father. " An heir of 
glory"— a frail child of dust. # * * * 

2. View them as the charge of angelic care. This is the 
meaning of the verse. — Their guardian angels — ministering 
spirits : and because of the nearness of connexion between 
God and these angels, it attaches importance to these chil- 
dren. 

We know little of angels ; we do know they are minister- 
ing spirits to the heirs of salvation, though a veil hides them 
from us — let the light of revelation be cast on it, and the 
strengthened eye of faith, and I can see movements there. — 
See the seraph at the throne. * * * They once broke the veil 
at the incarnation, and think not they have now no concern 
with us — we have our attendant spirits ! ! 

But how can we form an idea of their dignity ! It con- 
sists in their beholding the face of our Father ! — The love of 
God is the commanding principle of the angelic nature, and 
they walk in his light, and ascend and descend on men, per- 
forming the will of God. — O ! the sweep of an angelic mind ! 
— what is their benevolence I they love children, great as 
they are — they think it no dishonour to wait on little children 
— children in the well — while children are associated, &c. 



THE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH. 349 

i% Angels now are hovering round us" — the hum of a Sun- 
day-school is music in an angel's ear — there they are in num- 
bers. How much more honour angels' presence confers 
than all greatness ! A pious child, then, is one of the most 
interesting objects. 

3. The objects of redeeming love. — See the following 
verse : " For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save 
that which was lost." They were lost! But what means 
this loss ? (Value of the soul.) Temporal loss is great- 
See Joseph's bloody coat — agony of a mother's heart — to 
hear of her lost sailor boy ; or a father's when his Absalom 
is gone !— But what is this to a moral, a religious lass ? A 
parent feels this most. — Is Jacob or the father of the prodi- 
gal, most pitiable ? — daily looking out for him ! For a pi- 
ous father to know that his child is lost to the Church, and 
living to the devil ! * * * Instance of a father weeping 
at the grave. " I weep for one that lives"— breaking my 
heart * * a lost child ! ! 

But the Son of man came to save them ! That is the 
Gospel for little children ! for them he drank the cup ! they 
are the purchase of the blood of Christ. — One little child 
reminds me of Gethsemane ! for it the Son of God dies ! 

Remember, also, he is come to seek that which is lost. 
He employs human means. How many have been found 
by Sunday-school teachers. What was the land fifty years 
ago ? — Bad enough now, but what would it have been if 
these seven thousand children to-day were scattering fire- 
brands ? # * * * But many lambs have been gathered. — - 
Sunday-schools have brought many back. Thousands in 
heaven are now beholding the face of their Father, and 
God's house on earth has been filled with their praises. 
" This my son is found !" 

4. The subjects of Divine compassion. Jesus connects 
them with all the sensibilities of heaven : " Even so it is not 
the will of your Father that one of these little ones should 
perish." Angels love them — Christ died for them — and 
their Father will have them saved. — How fine a representa- 
tion of the Almighty — listens to a child's prayer — hush every 
harp surrounded by glory ! &c. — he will look on a little 
child.— 

30 



350 THE YOUNG THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH, 

II. The manner in which they should be treated. 

1. The caution expressed : " Take heed." The caution is 
not useless ; even you may be in this danger. They have 
been neglected — the Church is guilty — -many have grown up 
children of wrath in consequence — Awful fact ! 

Why take heed, then ? Because angels love them, Jesus 
died for them, and the Father will have them to be saved, 
"But I have more important business than to teach in a 
Sunday-school." I pity the man who thinks so. "While 
employed for them you are working with angels — helpers 
of God. # * * No employment can eclipse the object of 
saving a soul from death. * * # Money given will not do ; 
go out and seek them — the lamb bleats in the thicket, and 
the wolf is near — fly and save it. 

Satan says, " It will lift the children out of their sphere," 
&c. A liar ! What, to open their minds to Divine truth ? 

* * * No ; ignorance will harm them, but never will they 
be injured by leading them to Jesus. Some say, do not 
trouble the Master with them, &c, " Suffer them to 
come." 

2. The duty implied as well as the caution expressed — » 
do not neglect them. There is the danger. Not in despi 
sing them — neglecting them is the damning sin of the 
world — neglect ! ! The word despise here means neglect, 
(See Dives — one instance of neglect.) No oppression is 
recorded of him, but he did no good. — Neglect his crime, 
hell his punishment. — When Jesus judges at the last day, 
will he exhibit a catalogue of crimes ? No : "I was hun- 
gered, and ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave 
me no drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; na- 
ked, and ye clothed me not ; sick and in prison, and ye vis- 
ited me not." 

3. The consequence anticipated in this neglect. u These 
shall go away into everlasting punishment." You say, " I 
ought to talk smooth things now. I injure the charity. * * 

* "—I should esteem your favour, but I value the appro- 
bation of my Father. Have not I done my duty ? You 
have neglected them — bear with me ! Jesus will soon 
come — he loves these — even unto death. What would you 
give to Jesus ? These children are his representatives. 



THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD. 351 

(State of the schools.) May our Sunday-schools be nurse- 
ries for God ! I cannot move you, but two considerations 
encourage me — I pray to the Holy Ghost for aid, and then 
simply lay the cause open to the hidden man of the heart. 



SERMON LIX. 

THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD. 

A MISSIONARY DISCOURSE. 

Isaiah, lxii., 1. — For Zion's sake will I not hold ray peace, and for Jerusalem's 
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the 
-salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii. 

Near Jerusalem a range of mountains called Hermon, of 
which Zion was one extremity, and was enclosed in Jerusa- 
lem ; on it the Temple was built. This accounts for the 
connexion between Jerusalem and Mount Zion. On St. 
•Paul's authority we extend the meaning, both emblematical 
of the Christian Church (Heb., xL). We interpret the text 
of the ultimate glory of that Church. — We may consider, 

I. The present implied obscurity of the Christian Church. 
II. Her future and anticipated glory. 
III. The means to accomplish it. 

I. The implied obscurity is in the prophet's words. The 
Vulgate version mends it: " The Righteous One and the 
Saviour" — The meaning is the same as that of the general 
reading, and implies that whenever the Righteous One and 
Saviour are hid in the Church there is obscurity, and wher- 
ever that Gospel is not preached in which, &c. — The Righ- 
teous One and Saviour are involved in obscurity. 

This Gospel is intended for general distribution — " all 
the world." The apostles and the Jews understood it not 3 
but referred it to Judea and to the Jewish nation. God 
abolished these prejudices, and then they understood the 
Saviour's words, and entered fully into the work ; they ex- 
ulted in it : u Now thanks be unto G-cxl which always caus- 



$52 THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLS. 

eth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour 
of his knowledge by us in every place." Opposition, how- 
ever, is implied in the triumph, but this was overruled— 
scattered abroad, they went everywhere preaching the 
word — like the wind it scattered the Gospel seed, and 
brough" forth a hundredfold. — The wilds of the Roman em- 
pire blossomed like the rose. Perhaps the temple of God 
has been gradually rising ever since, though some think oth- 
erwise — it may demand a doubt whether " he must increase" 
has not been in continual accomplishment. — However, it is 
certain the light is comparatively under a bushel. 

We may estimate the present population of the globe at 
one thousand millions ; say six hundred and fifty six millions 
m the cold, damp grave of paganism — not a unit of millions 
of Christians among them — the rest are ivilhout Christ ! 
The earth could not be more cheerless without the sun ! 
One hundred and sixty millions of Mohammedans — corus- 
cations from a marshy soil, leading to the bogs of sensuality. 
Nine millions of Jews. — Poor people ! Their cloud is re- 
versed, and the luminous side is the light to lighten the 
Gentiles. One hundred and seventy-five millions of Chris- 
tians : of these, one hundred millions Catholics. One thou- 
sand millions ! ! * * * * * * 

The lamp out, and a horrid stench emitted behind the 
scene. (Chesterfield.) Greek Church forty-five millions. 
Even in that golden candlestick the light but glimmers in 
the socket.— The remaining thirty millions are Protestants. 
But if we reckon that England is in this number (and other 
countries), how many of them are Christians in name only; 
how small the circle in which the light shines ! Dark, dark, 
dark ! There is indeed danger in our congratulating our- 
selves too much on success. 

We may, however, inspire hope, 

II. Her anticipated glory. The burning, lamp is a syrr> 
bol of the presence of Jehovah. Jesus is termed " the bright- 
ness of his Father's glory and the express image of his per- 
son." Connect both the figures in the text. — -The Sun of 
Righteousness shall go forth like the light of the morning.— 
Like it, 

1. It shall go forth manifestly. Light maketk manifesto 



THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD. 353 

The first effect of it in the heathen world is to show their 
state and danger. * * * God broke the pause of eternity : 
" Let there be light !"- — though still the earth was unfurnish- 
ed. So the heart is first discovered by the light to be desti- 
tute and unfurnished of good, though at the same time filled 
with every evil temper.* 

The same light discovers to them their remedy— " the 
healer of the breach." — 

2. Irresistibly — as the light of the morning. The powers 
of darkness long have reigned, and will engage in opposition 
— enlist auxiliaries. They will seek another Nero to quench 
the light of Jesus in the blood of his followers, or another 
Voltaire, ambassador plenipotentiary of hell. But " He that 
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have them 
in derision !" Let them forbid the sun to shine — lock up his 
bed-chamber, * * * — Then may they indulge a hope. — 
No ; not even then. ***** 

3. Universally' — as all the earth turns to the sun, all are 
visited by the morning light. The prayers of thousands 
must be heard — the blood of the martyrs under the altar de- 
mands it ; he will avenge them in the universal triumph of 
the Gospel — the spirit of prophecy declares it, the bonds of 
the mediatorial covenant pledge it : "At the name of Jesus 
every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth ; and every tongue shall 
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father." The intercession of the Redeemer 'secures it : 
" Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine in- 
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a posses- 
sion." The oath of Jehovah certifies it : " As I live? every 
knee shall bow." — " Righteousness shall go forth as bright- 
ness" in all the earth. 

III. The means by which the work is to be accomplished 
are indicated in the former part of the text — accomplished 
by some one being prompted to exert his power and voice % 
" For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusa- 
lem's sake I will not rest." 

Some think these are expressions of Jehovah. — Correct or 

* Clarke. 

Yy 



354 THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD. 

not, it is a Scriptural truth ; it has long lain near the heart 
of God ! exerted his power and raised his voice, &c, all 
for his Church — -he deals with every potentate and kingdom 
in reference hereto. 

Others, that Jesus is the speaker — the world is his pur- 
chased property through the mediation — but his own world 
received him not. * * * Yet the Father has pledged him- 
self to vindicate his right : " Ask of mc, and I will give 
thee" — "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron." — It is 
delegated by the Father. 

The most common opinion is that these words are Isaiah's, 
as a man of God and as a minister of God. In the same 
chapter he exclaims, "Ye that make mention of the Lord, 
keep not silence. And give him no rest, till he establish, and 
till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." 

It is proper to be used by all who mention the name of the 
Lord—/. 

Human agency, then, is the means employed. 

In Providence God helps man by man — rich or poor. * * 

In Grace the same. The word of God is to be carried 
and held forth as light — the ministry of reconciliation is in- 
trusted to man : " We are ambassadors of Christ ; as though 
God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead 
be ye reconciled to God." 

The language of the text indicates the manner also. 

1. It shall be consistent — prayer and exertion — ■" not hold 
my peace, not rest. n — Thus connected: 

2. Affectionate exertions also — from a principle of love 
for Zions sake. — Love is the strongest of all — contrib- 
ute from this motive. " For Ziorts sake will I not hold my 
peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righ- 
teousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation 
thereof as a lamp that burnetii." This ought to be univer- 
sally adopted by every missionary, every member, every 
man, woman, child. Let it be my motive in addressing you. — 

3. Persevering " until the righteousness go forth." — May 
w r e never look back ; the next verse assures us of the cer- 
tainty of the accomplishment. 

* * * Remember what means a God of mercy has employ- 
ed for our conversion. His light has shined into our hearts. 



THE MORAL ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD. 355 

If any are otherwise, it is because they have not come to the 
light. — We have been exalted like Capernaum. * 

We are here taught that the same means must be employ- 
ed for the conversion of others. You say, " May not the 
heathen be saved without the Gospel ?" Admit it ; but in- 
fer we then that we need send no Gospel to them ? Re- 
member the talents. — It was he who had the one talent that 
misused it. — The greater the privileges, then, the greater 
the possibility of the heathen's salvation. — -Again, remem- 
ber the Saviour's warning to Chorazin. * * * What a heart 
is that which sees no need of sending the heathen light be- 
cause there may be a bare possibility of salvation. The lost 
traveller in the desert may possibly avoid the beasts around, 
and extricate himself, even if no guide offer. # # # But 
there are two questions of greater importance than these : 

1. Are they actually saved ? They have a light within, 
but they regard it not. The fact is against them, whatever 
the theory be. 

2. Can we be saved if we send them not the Gospel ? 
We are the trustees of the Gospel. (Johnson's opinion of the 
man who puts out the light in a lighthouse — same with him 
who refuses to light it up.) We could light up this beacon 
— if not, and souls are shipwrecked, " We are verily guilty 
concerning our brethren." 

* * * If, then, God pardon us the past, let us resolve 
henceforth to wash our hands in innocency. 

God is pouring out a spirit of pity on the world towards 
the heathen. Could I strike flat the rotundity of the globe, 
and show you in prospective what is doing, you would ex- 
claim, " We have seen strange things to-day !" — Little groups 
of missionaries — the banner of the cross waving — one shout- 
ing to another — the dying missionary — your own country 
sending another to catch the standard — the valleys and 
the rocks shouting to each other, and one universal halle- 
lujah ! * # # # # * 

This holy war, like all wars, is expensive — special rea- 
sons for a large collection. * ,Jf * -I have come from afar— 
If we invite a beggar, we are bound to give. — If you think 
the committee did right in inviting me, give ; if wrong, re- 
venge it not on the cause ! 



356 THE BELIEVER IN DARKNESS. 

If you gave more to Clarke, then your motive was not 
love. — An incident occurs to me. " Jesus sat over against 
the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into it ; 
and many that were rich cast in much." Had you been go- 
ing to the box, what would have been your feelings ! — sub- 
stance — and much. — There was one poor ividow who gave 
all she could — all her living. — The Master is here — if much 
be given, and much remain behind — he sees you as giving 
little, &c. Jesus accounts the amount given by the amount 
of what is left in the purse ! ! 



SERMON LX. 

THE BELIEVER IN DARKNESS. 

Isaiah, 1., 10. — Who is among you that fcareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice 
of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light 1 let him trust in the name 
of the Lord, and stay upon his God 

Experience demonstrates the truth of all our preaching, 
that he who leans on earth leans on his ruin. — Happy if good 
men were conscious of this : and they are so in the same 
degree as they place their trust in God. * * * " Poverty 
cannot rob me; sickness deprive me of strength; darkness 
deprive me of light." — Some such meaning here. " If you 
have no light, trust in the Lord !" Here is a certain issue : 
confide in him — he is yours ; however the mind is implica- 
ted, he will bring you through ; see how he brought Christ 
to glory ! 

I. The character mentioned. 
II. The circumstances here stated. 
III. The directions given. 

I. The character mentioned. 

First, one who fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of his 
servant. 

Secondly, he walks in darkness, and has no light ! 

1. No spiritual light ? No ; he who has Jesus Christ in 
his heart cannot be ignorant ; he is washed in blood ! Hu- 



THE BELIEVER IN DARKNESS. 357 

man learning is but a shade from ignorance, but they are 
truly wise who know Jesus Christ. " This is life eternal, 
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom thou hast sent." — Know him ? And where 
are your sins ? Hid. — Where your hopes ? Beyond sight. 
— The darkness in the text, then, is not ignorance in the 
scriptural sense. # # # # # 

2. Nor is he miserable. The good man cannot be so. 
He may have sleepless nights, &c, but not wretched ! — 
There is something in piety that mingles the cup : makes 
him "Sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; though poor, yet 
making many rich ; having nothing, yet possessing all 
things." No one knows this in theory — experience. — Feel- 
ing trial, and yet enjoying the rest of tranquillity !— the hap- 
piness of God which passeth understanding ; keeping the 
mind, &c- — no other end of preaching — sacraments, &c, 
but to bring them to feel the happiness of Jesus Christ, in 
the belief of the cross ! * * * * 

3. Nor does he walk in the darkness of sin — that cord 
is in the fire of God's will. He fights against it — no false- 
hood, deceit, strife, vanity— all the hell of fallen nature. — 
If you be Christians, sin shall not have dominion over 
you. Why ? You are under Calvary — under grace. You 
are at least saved from practical disobedience, and you are 
seeking to be fully saved. — I read, " The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth us from all sin." No argument of man can 
destroy this. ###### 

*7? "Tp "7S* "7i* "7f* vv* "A* "ft? 

We do not, then, walk in the darkness of sin. 

The text refers to Providential darkness. Heaven leads 
through mazes. (1.) God often thwarts a good man in his 
endeavours to get comfortably through the world. He is 
industrious and active, and yet the torrent goes against him. 
He compares himself with his more fortunate neighbours, 
— " No better than I am." " Yet where are my children ? 
Gone ! my partner accusing me ! my friends say I am a 
hypocrite ! My throne — it is a dunghill /" This is fact, not 
fancy. He walks in darkness indeed ! — How often God re- 
sumes what he gave ! 
(2.) How often are the children of good men thorns in their 



358 THE BELIEVER IN DARKNESS. 

sides ? Like Eli, they taught them well, but when they 
looked for piety and affection, they found impiety and diso* 
bedience ! They reproved in affection, hoping to conquer 
by love. — Age ought to command respect — yet their eyes 
wax dim and their gray hairs are brought down with sorrow 
to the grave : in one day all perish together ! Did ever 
lovely blossoms end in such a blight! — brought up for the 
church! See David ! the idol of his soul murders his broth- 
er — aims at his father's crown, his father's life ! The pa- 
rent flees, hunted by his child ! — See the saint of half a cen- 
tury pass Kedron, ascending Mount Olivet. Twelve thou- 
sand pursue him, and the king only is to be smitten. Absa- 
lom commands. — Hear the father : " Repel the foe, but deal 
gently, for my sake, with the young man, even with Absa- 
lom — he is my son." — The messenger flies to inform David 
of the defeat. — Deaf to all this — " Is the young man Absa- 
lom safe ?" if he is preserved, it is better than victory ! 
But no ! — " O Absalom ! my son ! my son !" * # * Gibbon 
says a man can only live to posterity in three ways : in his 
children, in his works, or in the enthusiasm of Christianity. 
When a man loses the first, O how much comfort is gone ! 
" If I be bereaved of my children I am bereaved." * * 

(3.) The darkness maybe great and oppressive — weakness 
of body. * * * But whether God takes what he gave you, 
&c, whatever darkness, here is the cure ! * * * (The Father 
purges — yet you cannot take the knife to Isaac.) 

III. The directions given. 

Trust in the name of the Lord — his power, benevolence, 
fidelity. — Witness the record — look at the past, and see 
how he led thee. Stay upon thy God ! Fine figure ! 
— practical religion. Stay is a prop to a weaker vessel to 
support a stronger. Lean on God ! rest on the mighty ! 
The man of faith holds him in the promise : "I will never 
leave thee nor forsake thee." — Faith is what he stands on ; it 
is the substance, the basis, from which he plays all his en- 
gine. (Habakkuk.) 

See the fact — Joseph! When his father hungered, he 
heard the rumbling of Joseph's wagons. Jacob stayed on 
God. 



APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 359* 

But the reason of the thing requires it.— The veracity of 
God ! — a delight in the confidence of God which none 
can rob us of. 

When the heart fights within — enemies many — -table spare 
■ — live to God, and nothing can harm you. " I am in his 
hand," said Wesley — " in the hollow of it !" or, as Taylor 
said, " In the enclosure and encirclings of the Lord" — " He 
will never leave you." But if not in his hands, you cannot 
confide in him. — Make this point sure. * * * 



SERMON LXL 



APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 



Colossians, i., 2&. — Whereimto I also labour, striving according to his working, 
which worketh in me mightily. 

Every man should have some determinate end of action, 
and true wisdom consists in adapting the best means to the 
best end. Now the Apostle Paul shows us here the end 
of all his works, — The man who has no fixed, unalterable 
principle, uses not his reason ; he has not attained to the dig- 
nity of human nature.- — Some have this end in view, and 
others that, but the noblest end of our being is that at which 
the apostle aimed. 

I. The end which the apostle proposed to himself. 
II. His work as connected with that end, 
III. The principle, the only true one, by which he sought 
to accomplish his object. 

I. His end was the salvation of immortal souls I an end 
worthy of Saul of Tarsus— worthy of the Great Apostle of 
the Gentiles ! His mighty mind could grasp no less an 
object. It is- the end which God proposes to himself; the 
end he had in view in the gift of his only Son ! the end of 
all his dispensations to the sons of men. This alone is an 
object worthy of a creature who was made for God ! it is 
the true dignity of human nature ! 



3'60 APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 

And shall a less design satisfy me ? Shall my soul, born 
for glory, whose naked birthright is immortality, take up with 
a lower theme ? Shall any other pursuit occupy my mind 
than what occupies the mind of my God ? Shall I propose 
a less object of pursuit than angels choose ? There is joy 
among them over one sinner that repenteth, and shall I feel 
less ? No ! 

But, connected with this end, he sought to make all men 
partakers of the immunities which the Gospel of Christ of- 
fers to all who will embrace them, to bring them to the pres- 
ent enjoyment of the kingdom of Grace, &c. — and to present 
every man perfect in Christ Jesus — every man to whom he 
brought the glad news of the Gospel. — He anticipated the 
day of the Lord, and would present to Christ every man ! ! — 
perfect ! 

Reflection. — And is it not sufficient honour to be allied 
with God in this vast work ? " workers together with him \ n 
Oh ! the glory — the present glory — partners with Deity ! — 
And is it not also sufficient recompense when we see the trav- 
ail of the Redeemer's soul brought in? "Give me souls, 
or else I die !" * * * * * * 

II. His work was the preaching Christ crucified : " Whom 
ive preach." — Dwell here — This is the great power of 
God — it is the instrument he employs in the salvation of 
souls — this is not sufficiently attended to — we lose sight of 
this great power of God, and hence we are not profited. 

Yet, when we look around us, are we not apt to think 
that God has altered his way of working ? How many thou- 
sands flock to our churches, and yet what result ? The fault 
must either be in you or us. God willeth the salvation of 
all men ! And is the fault with us ? Do we indeed preach 
in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, or seek we to 
please men ? God knoweth ! We preach Christ crucified 
in all his glorious characters, prophet, priest, and king ; and 
yet God in every one — the equal of the Father, in whom 
alone is salvation ! We preach Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ! Oh ! 
the thrilling sound! "It charms the hosts above!" — Do 
we preach with design ? Do we plan our account to catch 
souls ? Do we expect it daily ? Do you hear with design, 



APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 361 

or is it to please yourselves ? Do you suffer the word to en- 
ter your very souls ? 

Reflection. — And is it so that this preaching is the power of 
God ? How should you " take heed how you hear !" How 
should you bear us up at a throne of grace ! Our work is 
awful — it is arduous : " Brethren, pray for us." — To whom 
should we flee but to you ? "We would lean on the bosom 
of the Church. When every earthly friend forsakes us, we 
care not if we can only lean on God's people. Pray for 
us : come expecting a present salvation. 

Again, if this preaching be so powerful, shall we ever 
cease our labour of love ! No. 

" Happy, if with my latest breath 
I may but gasp his name ! 
Preach him to all, and cry in death, 
Behold! behold the Lamb !" 

Nor shall any suffering prevent our glorying in the cross. 
As to privations of temporal goods, I account them little ; I 
scarcely give them a thought ! But in suffering, &c — See 
Paul : " I am ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus." 
Oh ! that I may follow him as he followed Christ. We will 
count no sacrifice too great ! " We seek not yours, but you." 
What a spirit ! I can conceive him before my mind's eye 
pleading the cause of heaven.— -This leads us to 

III. The principle, the only true one, by which the apos- 
tle sought to accomplish his object, 

St. Paul was peculiarly calculated for his work ; his was 
a peculiar work, and we may therefore understand his ex- 
pression of "the power of God working with him" to in- 
clude three things : 

1. The direct and immediate inspiration of Christ.- — Oh ! 
what power working in him mightily ! — -feeling the indwell- 
ing of his Lord, and speaking directly the words of Christ ! 

2. He may allude to miracles, which he had the power of 
working in attestation of the truth. 

3. The abiding influence of the Holy Ghost. By this I do 
not mean inspiration, but the comforting, supporting influ- 
ences of the Holy Ghost to encourage him in his great work. 

We see that every true minister refers his success to, and 
31 Z z 



362 APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 

seeks his power directly from, Heaven ! " Without me ye 
can do nothing!" No characters depend more for success 
in the prosecution of their labour. Though they work, yet 
it is according to His power ! * * * # 

Application. — To the sinner — and the saved. 

1. You cannot throw off the conviction that there is a 
day of final reckoning ; that there only the man who has 
been employed in Heaven' 9 s ivork will be rewarded — the 
salvation of your own souls and the souls of others. No 
matter how honourably you may have passed through life, 
or brought up large families, &c. — The question is, Has the 
salvation of your souls been the object of your living ? The 
world will be burned up, and you will therefore only be 
judged in that which abideth forever, " The word of the 
Lord !" Do you seriously believe this ? that there is an eter- 
nity. * * * Then the next thing is, set out in the way — 
every man has an end in view in all he does in this world : 
we approve your prudence in this. — What makes you sail 
from this city ? you are bound to a certain place ; it is as- 
certained — settled. And now use the same prudence in 
heavenly things. Do you seriously expect to get there ? 
Have you set out ? Is it the fixed place of your destina- 
tion ? Are you living with an end in view, a design ? * * 

Then, if the preaching of the Word is the principle, use 
this and all the means of grace. — I am so weak a creature 
myself that I need all the help that I can possibly get. — Be 
faithful in your closets — in your families — at the sacramental 
table, &c. — and believe every moment for the virtue of 
the atoning blood. 

2. You who are saved, see your security. You can no 
longer work then. God works in you, but he only wants ap- 
plying to that he may impart strength. — Oh ! may I, as a 
minister, ever feel my nothingness. May you, as Christians, 
ever feel yours. Do you now resolve to be for God ? My 
heart is fixed ; I will lay myself out ; I will live with an end 
in view. * * — Is your heart as my heart ? I think I feel it 
beat yes ! Lord God, I present thee this congregation. — 
Oh ! that I may be permitted to bear some humble part in 
presenting every man perfect in Christ Jesus. * * 



THE CLOSE IMITATOR. 363 



SERMON LXIL 

THE CLOSE IMITATOR, 
S Corinthians, xi., 1. — Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ, 

I. His love to a lost world. 

1. It was Jesus's great concern going about doing good 
to the bodies and souls of men. Like him, Paul went 
about. ##*#### 

2. In Jesus, how often did these feelings produce tears. 
" O Jerusalem," &c. — So Paul, Phil., iii., 18 : " For many 
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even 
weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." 

3. Jesus was willing to die for a lost world, — So Paul : 
he wished himself accursed by Christ. 

II. His peculiar love to his Christian brethren? and sympa- 
thy with them. 

1. Jesus wept. — Paul, " I mourn with them that mourn," 
" I weep with them that weep." — ■" Who is weak, and I am 
not weak ?" — If one member suffered, he felt as if his own 
body was afflicted. 

2. As Jesus in his constant care to keep his followers. — 
So Paul, " I have espoused you," &c. — u I am jealous over 
you." *###### 

3. As Jesus feared his followers suffering : " Let these go 
their way," — So Paul before Agrippa — he was willing to 
bear the bonds, &c. 

III. His zeal for God?s honour and glory, 

1. Peter and he in Gaiatians — and again, chap, v., 12: 
" I would they were even cut off which trouble you." 

2. Ely mas the sorcerer. 

IV. His readiness to suffer for God's cause. 

1. Agabus. — We have seen what Paul did suffer ; we 
now see his readiness to suffer more. Phil., h\, 17 : " Yea, 
and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your 



3o4 TftE CLOSE IMITATOB. 

faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all." 2 Tim., iv., 6: ""I 
am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is 
at hand." 

2. Acts, xx,, 24 : " But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the 
grace of God." Phil., hi., 10: " That I may know him, 
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his 
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." 

3. Jesus suffered for his brethren. — So Paul, Eph., iii., 
1 : " For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for 
you Gentiles." 

V. His readiness to forgive. 

1. Like his Master, he knew nothing of private resent- 
ment ; and if he was obliged to use the rod of severity^ 
how painful and how soon laid aside ! — Fornicator. 

2. " Ye Galatians have not injured me at all." 

3. He had that charity which is not easily provoked. 

VI. His humility. 

1. If Jesus could wash his disciples' feet, so Paul " the 
servant of all." He had a noble mind, which could submit 
to anything, 1 Cor., x., 33. He sought " Not his own profit, 
but the profit of many, that they might be saved." — See 
how noble in the eating meat. He was the little child. 

2. Lycaonia. He counted himself a fool. 

3. Submitted to be a Nazarene.— He drank deeply into 
his Master's spirit. " I am less than the least." 

VII. Uprightness and purity of heart. 

1. Jesus could appeal to his very enemies. — In secret 
have I said nothing — ask these who were with me. — So 
Paul could not only appeal to his followers, Acts, xx., 27, 
" For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel 
of God," but even calls upon his accusers to say aught 
against him, when before Felix. 

VIII. Paul was a living comment on the thirteenth chapter 
of 1 Corinthians. 

1. " Vaunted not himself :" " I am the chief of sinners." 
"Not I, but the grace of God."—" I am the least of the 
apostles." 



THE CUP OF SALVATION. 365 

S. u Sought not his own" — as in the Corinthian Church. 

3. " Envied not."— As Jesus said, " Forbid them not," 
so Paul envied none who preached the Gospel of Jesus. — 
He bore all things, believed all, hoped all, &c. 

IX. Resignation to the will of his heavenly Father. 

1. If Jesus could say, " Not my will" so Paul, Phil., iv., 
11 : " Not that I speak in respect of want ; for I have learn- 
ed, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to 'be content." 

X. Ceaseless love to God's cause. 

1. When by infirmity his active zeal abated, his charity 
never failed, Col., ii., 1: " For I would that ye knew what 
great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and 
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh." — He 
yearned over the Galatians. 

2. If Jesus loved his own to the end, so Paul : " O Timo- 
thy, keep that which is committed to thy trust !" 

Lastly. In his death. 

As his end approached he became more conformed to 
Christ. 

1. Like him, he lost his followers : u All men forsook 
trim." 

2. " It is finished."— u I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith." # # # # * 

#■'.#'-'#■ - : '#■''' #■•■'•#■■■' ..# 



SERMON LXIII. 



THE CUP OF SALVATION. 



Psaim cxvi., 12-14. — What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits to- 
wards mel 

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. 
I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. 

Gratitude is the noblest of exercises ; it is that which has 
most to do with God and least with ourselves. Repent- 
ance, faith, &c. — all respect ourselves ; they are the conse- 
quences of our fall ; but gratitude existed when there was 
sio Eden to deplore, and will continue when repentance 



366 THE CUP OF SALVATION". 

and faith will cease in eternal bliss. David was deeply m> 
pressed with a sense of this feeling, as in the text. 
I. Let us take a view of God's benefits toward us. 

1. The greatest of all his mercies is sparing' mercy — 
spared to the present hour. Oh! sinner, art thou grateful 
that thou art not in hell ! What alive ! and not grate- 
ful for it ! Monstrous I Why, Peter calls this mercy sal- 
vation ! Yes, it is a present salvation ! and ought to 
lead thee to repentance ! This is its very tendency ; it 
chastens- thy feelings, melts thy hearty and woos- thee to 
love Him who has not cut thee down ! 

2. Thy individual mercies. Oh- ! remember these — call 
some of them to mind, and confess thy mighty debt ! * * 

3. Your family mercies ! Do you count these as common 
mercies ? ****** 

4. Your national mercies ! Are these small ? Nay, look 
around you on others ; see how the domestic circle has been 
broken in upon by the hell-hounds of war, who have witness- 
ed all who were dear, butchered before their eyes ! You 
have only heard of these by the hearing of the ear ; the 
half was not told you : your eyes have been spared the 
sight. — These mercies are thine, oh sinner ! Though thou 
hast not called to thy God, he has called to thee ! Though 
thou hast been unmindful of him, he has not been unmindful 
of thee ! — he has been lavish of his love ! Why to thee this 
waste of love ? Ask, &c. 

5. Look at thy greatest mercy, the Lord Jesus Christ.. 
This is an unspeakable gift — all description of it is vain I 
He bled — he groaned — he died — that thou mightst live 1 
Trace thy temporal mercies to this source ; why thy sparing 
mercy ? Because he has cried, " Spare them another 
vear w ■■* * * * * * * * 

But look at your spiritual mercies I Many here can trace 
streams of spiritual comfort flowing into their hearts the past 
year, back to the very fountain ; this fulness of love ! this 
ocean without bottom or shore ! 

1. Pardoning mercy. — 2. Adopting mercy. — 3. Sanctify- 
ing mercies. — 4. Refreshing mercies — in short, soul-saving 



THE CUP OF SALVATION. 367 

mercies ! Oh ! how great is his mercy to pardon ! — how 
much greater to adopt ! — Mercy of mercies ! 

" How can it be, thou heavenly King, 
That thou shouldst us to glory bring, 
Make slaves the partners of thy throne, 
Deck'd with a never-fading crown 1 ?" 

Some of you have experienced these in the past year. Do 
you begin to feel them, and are you now saying, " What 
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me ?' 9 
This is the immediate cry of such a soul ! It thinks of giv- 
ing back, as the word means. 

II. See what David renders. Three things : 

1. I will take the cup of salvation, or the cup of deliver- 
ance. When God had saved from any calamity, the cup of 
thanksgiving was taken — drank first by the head of the fam- 
ily, and then handed round ; it was a cup of gratitude. 
Now, in our dispensation the eucharist has taken the place 
of this ; and of all terms to signify this ordinance, this is 
most proper — Eucharist — a cup of thanksgiving, I wonder 
that this ordinance is so much neglected. — What ! God 
blessing you continually, and you never commemorating it 
by taking the cup of deliverance ? 'Twere no wonder if 
God should cease to bless, as you cease to acknowledge his 
blessings. The infidel may laugh, but I cannot but admire 
many of the regulations of the rubric on this head ; as, a 
woman after delivery — her first place of public resort is 
to be the communion-table. Oh ! how sweet the feeling ! ac- 
knowledging the hand of God by taking the cup of deliver- 
ance, of thanksgiving! 

Again, after marriage the first public act is to be at the 
Eucharist.— Again, on the coronation of his majesty ; taking 
the cup of thanksgiving. Oh ! this is the way to return love 
for love ! to kiss the hand that blesses you ! looking on the 
Eucharist as a memorial of thanksgiving. I know not how 
a Christian can reconcile to his conscience the neglect of 
it. (Wesley's first meeting with Fletcher!) 

Oh ! that men were always impressed with the sense 
of their mercies ; and they would be always impressed 
with eucharistical feelings, and ever ready to every good 



368 THE CUP OF SALVATION. 

work ! It is true, many prostitute this ordinance, and take 
this cup as an unmeaning ceremony ; but if you feel your 
mercies, take the cup of thanksgiving frequently. 

(Persons might go to the communion-table at a much 
younger age than custom has warranted — a child can love 
God!) 

2. I will call upon the name of the Lord — I will invocate 
the name of the Lord ! This custom was always among 
the faithful : the cup of deliverance should always be taken 
with invocation. Name is here put for the thing itself — I will 
call upon the Lord ! I will give him ceaseless thanks in 
ceaseless praise ! Oh ! how natural is this ! I am de- 
livered from evil ; T look up to my deliverer, and the invol- 
untary " I thank you''' echoes from the feelings of my heart 
within. God has delivered me from ten thousand deaths, 
and my heart is ever breathing, "O Lord, I bless thy gra- 
cious power" — " I will call upon thee as long as I live." 

3. " I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the pres- 
ence of all his people." The practice of making vows to 
Deity has been found to exist in all ages, savage and civil- 
ized. Is the party in danger or in any hazardous underta- 
king ? he vows to his God that, if he will deliver him, he 
will make him a sacrifice. Now, have not you made vows 
to God ? Remember ! you were in trouble — in danger — • 
at the point of death — your wife, husband, child was about 
to be removed — think ! You promised God a sacrifice, and 
that was the sacrifice of yourself! Have you paid your 
vows ? Man, the vows of thy God are on thee, and they 
are unpaid. Oh ! tremble, lest a worse evil overtake thee ! 
God heard thy vow — he delivered thee — he registered thy 
vow on high. It yet stands open, unliquidated ! Now, 
says David, I will pay my vows- — now ; I conjure thee to 
do the same ! Oh, say you, I will offer myself to God in 
private, but in the great congregation I will not- — I will 
not make a show of my religion. What, ashamed of pay- 
ing thy vows to God ! thy God ! When danger surrounded 
thee wouldst thou have cared if all the earth had seen or 
heard thee make it ? But remember, all heaven heard it ? 
and wilt thou be afraid of a worm ? Thy mercies were pub- 



THE CUP OF SALVATION. 369 

lie ; they were performed for thee in the presence perhaps 
of thousands, and God expects a public acknowledgment. 

" But thou wilt keep thy religion and thy vows of it to thy- 
self." God will not accept of this ; he will be glorified by a 
display of thy light, if such be in thee — a public display. 
Thou art deceived by a voluntary humility ; art not thou am- 
bitious of the honour implied in these words, " Ye are my 
witnesses !" Confess him before men, that thou mayst be 
the child of God ! 

These vows were made for you during your minority, m 
the public assembly when at the holy font — and hence I ad- 
mire public baptism. Private baptism was never practised 
in the primitive days, and it is the corruption of Christianity 
if it be practised now. It is almost done away. You were 
brought to the holy font, and the vows of God were then 
put on you. It is well this is called a sacrament — an oath. 
You are bound to God by an oath ! You have vowed to 
renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, and you are 
bound publicly from time to time (and what time so favour- 
able as this !) to take this vow upon you ! Goa expects it 
from you — truth expects it — the bleeding cause of God 
expects it. The enemies of truth are mighty, and it is the 
duty of all who love her to stand, to make a stand in her be- 
half ! Resolve in the strength of the Lord! " But you 
broke your last." — Well ; resolve again ! Fight against ev- 
ery hinderance ; be faithful ; the grace of Christ is stronger 
than sin, and the stronger will prevail ! 

"Why scruple more at taking this vow upon you than go- 
ing to the sacrament ? This is a vow also. Pay your vows 
now in the presence of all his people ! 

A A A 



370 GOSPEL HOLINESS. 



SERMON LXIV. 

GOSPEL HOLINESS. 

Phil., i., 8-11. — For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the 
bowels of Jesus Christ, 

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in 
all judgment ; that ye may approve things that are excellent ; that ye may be sin- 
cere and without offence till the day of Christ ; being filled with the fruits of righ- 
teousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 

I am fond of entering into the very spirit in which the 
apostle writes, that I may feel as he felt : it is always profit- 
able, and perhaps the most effectual means, under the Holy 
Spirit, of causing the blessings, which he wished shed on 
them, diffused abroad. For want of this being attended to 
by modern preachers, we lose the spirit of primitive times ! 

How solemn his asseveration: " God is my record! 1 '' I 
call on him to witness — he is ever before me, and reads 
my heart : he is, then, my witness " how greatly I long after 
you all /" How ardent ! He loved them with almost bound- 
less affection ! — The idea he wishes to convey is that of a 
woman in travail. I long — I am in pain for you all till you 
be safely landed : 

" Far from a world of grief and sin, 
With God eternally shut in." 

" In the bowels of Jesus Christ. 1 '' It is hardly possible 
to paraphrase this — the bowels, the compassion of Christ. 
Oh ! the heart of Jesus ! the yearning of his bowels over his 
children ! Paul loved them with an affection like this ; and 
let me observe, no man who has not felt the compassion of 
Jesus, who has not something of his benignity — of his heart, 
something of his sympathies, is qualified for usefulness in 
the Church of God ! I speak to you, not as ministers, but 
as leaders of the flock of Jesus ; the lambs you are appoint- 
ed to lead into the tender grass and beside the still waters 
of comfort. Seek to have the sympathies of the God-man, 



GOSPEL HOLINESS. 372 

who " can be touched" and of his apostle, who says, " Who 
is weak, and I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn 
not ?" 

" And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and 
more" Doubtless this means your love to each other ; but 
shall we say it does not also mean your love to the Supreme 
Good ? Yea, rather let us say it means first your love to Him, 
and then your love to each other. Now, he prays that their 
love may abound ! It, of course, implies that they had this 
love, this charity towards God. What is the foundation of this 
love ? " He loved me, and gave himself for me." When 
the soul believes that truth with the heart, it takes hold on 
God, for it is the marrow of the Gospel. And let a man 
feel this saving truth, and he will love the brotherhood ; lov- 
ing the Redeemer, he will love the redeemed. The heart 
of man is naturally hard ; Divine love can soften it ; and 
think not that the heavenly flame, thus kindled in the heart 7 
loses itself amid its kindred fire burning before the throne of 
God and the Lamb, blending with his holiness ; no, it acts 
upon that from whence it proceeds ; the Divine heat softens 
the hard heart and makes it flow ; it diffuses itself to all 
mankind. 

But Paul prays that it may abound u yetmoreand more" 
Here is the measure of his love ! It is like the stone cast 
on the smooth sea ; it describes first a small circle, it in- 
creases more and more, and perturbates all the water, and 
is only bounded by the measure of the wide abyss ! So let 
this Divine charity find place in the heart of man : the cir- 
cle is formed, perhaps among kindred spirits, or those joined 
by ties of friendship and affection ; it widens ; another and 
another circle is described ; his feelings extend to all — - 
and knows no other measure than the wide extent of God's 
creation ! Now it abounds more and more ; it is the love 
of Christ ; and till you can limit the illimitable love of Je- 
sus, or bound his boundless compassion, you can never con- 
fine the love of the pious soul towards the children of men ! 

" In all knowledge," Religion is not a mere excrescence, 
which grows out of a want of intellect ; no ; ignorance is not 
the mother of devotion. Feeling they lacked wisdom, they 



372 GOSPEL HOLINESS. 

had asked of God. — It is Godly wisdom (Styles) — in " all 
knowledge ;" yes, the more we know, the more we love ; 
the more clear are our views of God in Christ, the more our 
hearts will glow towards him. Shame to hear persons com- 
plain of want of love ; it is because they do not know Him 
enough. 

" If all the world my Jesus knew, 
Then all the world would love him too." 

Luther said "every thing concerning Jesus is lovely to such a 
soul — the bloody head, hands, back, feet, heart of Jesus 
are all lovely — altogether lovely /" The cross of Christ — 
glory in it ! (What is love ? It is the effect produced 
by an object which appears to me altogether amiable ; my 
mind draws the picture of his excellences in all their 
beauty, and produces in me admiration, delight, esteem.—) 
The more you know him, the more you love him : be not 
afraid of loving too much. I pity those who fear they 
can love too much. " Be not righteous overmuch ; nei- 
ther make thyself overwise ; why shouldst thou destroy 
thyself?" — Wesley was not afraid of the doctrine of per- 
fect love ; this was the perfection he aimed at ; not sin- 
less perfection, but a being made perfect in love ! This 
is being "filled with the fulness of God." The reason 
of our declension in the love of God is, we do not seek 
to know him enough. Do you often visit him? Do you 
often meet him in secret ? Oh ! he is lovely : he delights to 
meet with thee in private ; he has things to reveal to thee 
which he does not unto the world. Go oftener to meet the 
object of thy love, and thou wilt love him more. * * * 
And let me observe concerning this love of God, it is 
boundless ; there is not a creature under heaven who is 
not the object of it. If you deny, I put my hand upon the 
Bible and say, produce your reason. There is no being the 
offspring of his wisdom and power who is not the object of 
his love ! If there were, I say there is a being who is under 
no moral obligation whatever to the Deity. If God have 
always had a hate to him, he is not bound by any moral ob- 
ligation to God to love him. For what is the requirement ? 



SOSPEL HOLINESS 5 . 37$ 

Lore him because he loved thee ! And am I bound to 
love that object whom God hates ? " Ah," say you, " these 
are in God's eternal decrees, and he alone knows the unhappy 
sons of reprobation ; but I am to love them, and leave the 
matter to him." And what is this? "I am to love more 
than God loves ! !->— I am not bound to love him, nor he 
to love God! He owes him nothing!" "Yes," say you, 
16 he owes him obligation and gratitude ; he has been called 
into being, and existence is a blessing." Existence a bless- 
ing? "Yes, if we were butterflies, ephemerons, creatures made 
to enjoy a summer's day and sink among the rottenness of 
decayed nature at night, I would say existence is a blessing. 
But a being who is eternal ! whom God has passed by— and 
designed for eternal fire ! — -to say that existence is a blessing ! 
* — is the revery of madness— endless fire !" But perhaps you 
say, " I know those who hold these doctrines, and yet their 
piety is unquestionable." Thank God ! I glory in it ; it shows 
me that they have so much piety as prevents its being in- 
jured by noxious creeds ; that their hearts are better than 
their heads ; their lives than their creeds ; it shows me that ? 
when the love of God has affected the heart, it can forget the 
creeds of men, and extend its charity as boundless in its de- 
gree as is the nature from whence it came. But I wish you 
to be better instructed ; we wish you to have all knowl- 
edge •####### 
" And in all judgment" The meaning is, in all spiritu- 
al discernment, that they may know things from things. 
Now there is an analogy in our minds to our bodies- — the 
five senses are used as applicable to the mind. The man 
instructed now in all knowledge sees God ! his faith, reali- 
zing the Divine truth—" He loved me, and gave himself for 
me" — sees it set before his eyes ; Jesus Christ set forth cru- 
cified for me !— It hears him ; the heart is susceptible of 
every word of God ! He " tastes that the Lord is gracious." 
He smells the odour of the Word of Life — -he handles, he 
touches ; and the Divine touch thrills through every power 
of his soul ! He comes into contact with the Deity. He 
meets God in his word, and he has a spiritual discernment 
in all things— "he now knows to refuse the evil and to choose 
the good !" 
32 



374 GOSPEL HOLINESS. 

" That ye may approve things that are excellent ■." — First 
prove them, and then approve of the more excellent way. 
Awful fact, that few Christians choose the more excellent 
way ; languor, indifference, &c, comes over them, and there 
is not a pressing, a following hard after God. Hence, they 
are scarcely saved ; saved on a plank. Oh for the excellent 
way ! My brethren, seek after it. It is not the fervours of 
human passion which would burn the body for a fellow- 
creature ; but it is the pure flame of the love of God ! hav- 
ing full, full possession. 

" That ye may be sincere" — In love nothing can be ana- 
lyzed ; it is pure ; no flaw, no sunbeam, &c. ; " without of- 
fence;" no stumbling-block. — Love was never a stumbling- 
block. Men have contended about faith and opinions, but 
the devil could never make love a rock of offence. — If I have 
the love of God I will not offend him ; no, nor any who is 
the object of his love — no man willingly. 

" Till the day of Christ"— to my life's end. * * 



SERMON LXV. 

GOSPEL HOLINESS. 

SECOND DISCOURSE. 

Philippians, i., 11. — Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus 
Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 

In our last discourse we pointed out the Christian as dis- 
tinguished by his ardent piety and unbounded charity ; he 
cannot have too much charity. Who that loves can love 
enough ? — Here three things : 

I. His experience, " filled with the fruits of righteous- 
ness." 

II. The means whereby they are produced in him, by Je- 
sus Christ. 

III. The end of all, " unto the glory and praise of God." 

I. His experience, filled with fruit ; and it is mature 



GOSPEL HOLINESS. 375 

fruit, fruits of righteousness. He is here compared to a 
branch laden with fruit j he is "a fruitful branch" — "a 
tree whose leaf fades not" — " a tree of righteousness ;" 
and therefore he bears righteous fruit. — Righteousness 
means right-mindedness ; he has come to himself, to his 
right mind, and where this is it will be seen. 

1. Integrity is one of these fruits, and not the least — to- 
wards God and man ; and where this principle of right-mind- 
edness is within, it will be seen in candour, sincerity, &c. 
He gives not his tongue as the pander of another's fame and 
character — no evil speaking. View such a man again made 
upright, he stoops not to the artifices of earth ; but, having 
his mind above the heavens, and his communion with God, 
oh how upright ! 

2. Another fruit is tenderness of conscience. Oh ! how 
soft, how susceptible of every breath of temptation ; the 
guardian angel of the soul ! — Such a man is a decided char- 
acter ; trims not for a moment — does not sacrifice his duty 
to his interest, as I fear too many do, and ruin their souls ! 
Does an incitement arrive, he guards every avenue of the 
heart instantly, and without stopping to gaze upon the ap- 
ple, knowing that sin immediately darkens the eye of the 
mind, he repels it at once ; he sees in the light of God ; and 
his cry is, " How can I commit this great evil, and sin 
against God ?" A man who has not a tender conscience 
knows nothing of the fruits of righteousness. * * 

Such are some of the fruits of righteousness, but we are 
to be filled with them ! filled ! — Oh ! who thinks of the ex- 
tent of the privileges of the Gospel ? The world will, and 
always did, oppose such a character as this, for it is full of 
unrighteousness. Oh ! says the world, " Why so much 
ado ? we must yield a little — tush ; we must accommodate 
a little," &c. The world always did reproach such a one ; 
and believe me, it is not one of the least fruits of righteous- 
ness to bear the reproach of Christ. The world will let you 
go on quietly enough if you have no more piety than what 
pleases them. While you follow the indifferent rationality 
of your neighbours, you will never be reproached ; but strike 
out of the beaten path that leads to death, and you are 
pointed at. And yet this must be so ; a sense of the pres- 



376 GOSPEL HOLINESS* 

ence of God surrounding you, and a view of eternity, will 
always inspire you with singularity. You will point to 
heaven, and lead the way. Some say, " Well, you may do 
as you please ; but, if I can get into the lowest place in 
heaven, I am satisfied : I am not ambitious." Oh ! soul ! 
the man who will only walk with Jesus so far as the world 
keeps pace with him, but will not make one step with him 
in bearing his cross, is not a friend ; nay, he is an enemy 
of the way of righteousness. His low ambition grovels yet 
on earth ; "covet earnestly" the highestplace, the best gift!" 
Believe me, there is but a hairbreadth line between heaven 
and hell ; and if thou art sporting on the hair, thou wilt drop 
into the burning gulf! — There must be a " being filled with 
the fruits of righteousness." 

And will any man now oppose Christian holiness ? Is 
not such a character I am describing one filled with the 
Spirit ; and that Spirit is a Spirit of holiness — he is filled 
with holy tempers and dispositions; saved from all sin and 
saved into all holiness — saved into the mind of Christ ! — 
There are many who are fond of their religion in the bulk, 
but do not attend to its minutiae ; they perform the great 
and pompous things in it, in which the multitude go hand 
in hand ; they are found at church on Sundays, or going 
to the communion table — but are seldom found conversing 
with Jesus ; they know nothing of the delights of an inter- 
view with the King of Kings — sweet prayer is not in their 
practice. . Oh ! say they, we attend to our duties, and if we 
neglected them we should lose our religion. — Yes, your re- 
ligion consists in your outward duties, and if you ceased to 
perform them you would be infidels ; for you know nothing 
in religion but what is external ; nothing of the religion of 
the heart. Take away the externals, and prove yourself a 
Christian — alas ! you have no mark. 

I. But, say you, how is all this ? — " Which are by Christ 
Jesus" — such a soul is now made a partaker of Christ — not 
of the Deity, but of the mind which was also in him ; Christ 
now dwells in him, he in Christ ; he is one With Christ, as 
Christ is one with God. — Oh ! say you, this is a mere jar- 
gon of words without meaning — I cannot help it ; they are 



GOSPEL HOLINESS. 377 

Siot Methodistical phrases ; go to your church and heai her 
read in your communion service— " If we spiritually eat," 
&c. Now think you that she has any reference there to 
transubstantiation or consubstantiation ? No ; the Reform- 
ers regarded neither ; but there is a spiritual union be- 
tween Christ and a believing heart, which " nor tongue of 
men nor angels can describe; "yet, thank God, many feel it. 
— Go you and learn what it means. — Ask of God. * * * 

Now by this union with Christ Jesus all the fruits of the 
Spirit are produced — and it is impossible but that good 
works must be produced ; we are not ashamed to preach the 
necessity of good works ; there is no other way of giving 
evidence to the genuine character of the religion within us. 
We see in Christ our pattern, how these can be united ; his 
good works always evidenced what he was. It is fashiona- 
ble to talk of believing, but show it by your works; "hereby 
is my Father glorified." Behold a ray of light sporting itself 
in the atmosphere, and you are led immediately up to the god 
of day, from whom thousands of millions of rays are continu- 
ally emitted, and by which his glory is displayed — behold a 
Christian ! his light shines before men ; you immediately 
trace it up in a direct line to the Sun of Righteousness 
from whence it issued, and glorify not the Christian, but his 
Father, the source of all ! they cannot but be produced — 
all the fruits of holiness, 

III. And what is the end of all ? "to the glory and praise 
of God !" God can take delight in nothing but holiness ; it 
is his own nature. What is the happiness of Deity, humanly 
termed ? It is God contemplating his own perfections, his 
own holiness and infinity — satisfied with himself —this is 
the highest happiness we can conceive. And what is the 
pleasure which God takes in his creatures ? Inasmuch as 
they resemble him in holiness, he can take pleasure in no- 
thing else ; there must be inherent righteousness. I pity the 
man who would preach against this Christian holiness, and, 
instead of it, talk of an imputation of Christ's righteousness 
without an implantation. Let them cover their sins as they 
please by a garment of their own fancy ; we teach from the 
word of God that there must be an implanted righteousness 

Bbb 



378 GOSPEL HOLINESS, 

also — "holiness to the Lord." It is the dream of ignorance- 
it is the foolishness of folly — God can delight in nothing 
else but holiness — we raised above the ruins of our fall : this 
alone is to the glory and praise of God. Nay, I contend , 
God can take no pleasure in anything else at the day of 
judgment ; not we covered under the mantle of an imputed 
righteousness, and hiding our filthy souls ; no, nothing un- 
holy shall enter heaven ; nothing sinful ! If those who deny 
this doctrine will show me that it is more to the praise and 
glory of God to live in sin than to enjoy holiness, I give up 
the point. Where sin reigns by nature, righteousness must 
reign by grace, and much more abound ; there must be a 
" being filled:' 

And say not that this is a self-righteousness ; it would be 
so if produced of ourselves; but it is " by Jesus Christ;" 
and our cry in heaven will be, " Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing," and by that 
sacrifice has redeemed us ; and worthy is he who has toashed 
us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto God and his Father ; and let me add, the 
soul could not be happy nor enjoy God if its sins were 
cloaked by imputation, and if its righteousness were in 
another. The soul can only be happy inasmuch as it pos- 
sesses the object of its happiness ; no gazing upon the righ- 
teousness of another could cause bliss in heaven ; but a 
transformation into his likeness ; and the likeness can only 
consist in righteousness and true holiness. — Do you then go 
on from grace to grace, filled with the fruits of righteousness, 
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowl- 
edge of God : 

" A heart in every thought renewed, 
And full of love Divine, 
Perfect and right, and pure, and good, 
A copy, Lord, of thine." 

Thus is God glorified — and Christ will at that day come to 
be admired in his saints ; not that his cloak will cover them, 
but the world will see what the grace of God has accom- 
plished in them, as well as for them ; a people prepared for 
the Lord as well as saved by the Lord ! 



Peter's apostacy. 379 



SERMON LXVI. 



Luke, xxii., 61, 62. — And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter: and Peter 
remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, 
thou shalt deny me thrice. 

And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. 

I. The warning our Lord gave Peter before his fall. 

He first spoke generally, that he might not hurt Peter's 
mind : "All ye shall be offended because of me this night : 
for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of 
the flock shall be scattered abroad." He then brings it 
nearer : " Simon, Simon ; Satan has desired to have you, 
that he may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith fail not ; and when thou art converted, 
strengthen thy brethren." He twice names him ; you know 
what sifting is ; thus is the soul tossed about when God per- 
mits it. — But I have prayed for thee ; there is none who is 
tempted for whom our Lord does not intercede. 

This did not restrain Peter ; he was pained to think he 
could not follow his Lord now, he protests, &c. — Jesus then 
thrice fastens home the charge ; specifies the particular 
crime, denying him ! " Peter said unto him, Lord, why 
cannot I follow thee now ? I will lay down my life for thy 
sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for 
my sake ? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall 
not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." 

What does all this prove ? Not that he did not love Je- 
sus, nor was insincere, but that he was ignorant of his weak- 
ness ; this led to self-confidence, this to security, and this to 
his fall — he clung like the ivy to the oak, and determined that 
the lightnings of heaven which might blast the one, &c. * 

Jesus leaves every one without excuse ; he warns of the 
temptation and gives grace to sustain it, and no man need 
fall into it; the Spirit of God is afforded, &c, &c. 

See how he reproves him in the garden ! he takes the 



380 peter's apostacy. 

three who witnessed his transfiguration. — Peter had profess- 
ed his readiness to die ! Jesus singles him out of the slum- 
bering disciples. " Peter " couldst not thou watch (only 
watch) one hour ! How full of meaning ! — He again re- 
proves him in the garden ; Peter drew his sword : " Put it 
up ;" it would expose Peter to death. — Our Lord shows him 
that no such proof as that would satisfy of his sincerity ; acts, 
more like the Gospel he taught, must evince it. 

II. Observe the fall ! Sin has its gradations. — To pre- 
sent Peter with the horrors of blasphemy at once would be 
absurd. But see ! 

1. He follows afar off ! — Unlike John, who reclined — yet 
he loved — fear and affection combined. 

So the believer ; he is ashamed of introducing Christ into 
company, or of reproving sin ; he loves him, as Peter did, 
he cannot give him up ; but ah ! far off! (The pious Hervey 
would go nowhere but where his master was welcome.) 
Having left the company of God's children. 

2. He gets into evil company ; after being admitted, he did 
not adhere to Jesus as John did ; he warmed his hands and 
feet, but oh ! his heart was cold ! soon the maid who let him 
in challenged him, " this is one of them;" disarmed by his 
very self-confidence — what an opportunity to confess Jesus ! 
Now Peter ! poor Peter ; he has begun to lose his love, and 
he denies him. — Constables and maid-servants were no com- 
pany for an apostle except when delivering them the mes- 
sage of salvation. "Evil communications corrupt good man- 
ners" — sin gathers strength ; another maid comes, and her 
testimony is borne to try a man ; " thy speech bewrayeth 
thee ;" an oath is added ! not know him ? Why all Jerusa- 
lem know him ! more likely to make him still more suspect- 
ed, since a stranger in Jerusalem might have known these 
things. Peter's very defence to the second attack made 
way for the third ; he denied with an oath — a proof he was 
a liar, as all swearers are — the cock cried out thou liest — * 
the very tone in which he answered — angry ; why angry, 
Peter ? — The speech confessed him a Galilean ! the third 
attack comes, " that very dialect of thine," &c. Perhaps 
he was talking of Jesus, and his anxious look might mani- 



THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED. 381 

fest the interest he took in him. A kinsman of Malchus 
recognises him. — Oaths and curses succeed, and he horridly 
denies Jesus ! What, Peter ? Wast thou not on the mount 
with him ? Didst thou not see his glory ? (Trace the re- 
markable favours shown Peter, &c.) Yet he swears : In- 
fatuated Peter ! thou art beside thyself. — Why, Malchus's 
kinsman is here ! the fear of man i ! 

Oh ! how sin gathers strength as it rolls along ; thus he 
who a short time before was called " blessed" now denies 
his dear Lord and Master ! This is the effect of entering 
into the temptation ; when this is done, it is impossible to 
say where you will stop. Flee it as the face of a serpent ! 
Yea, as hell fire ! 

Do not deny the charge : let your speech prove you a 
Galilean-— too Methodistical. 



SERMON LX VII. 

THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED. 
Isaiah, xl., i. — Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 

The prophet had been declaring the sins of the Jews, and, 
therefore, denouncing God's judgments on them. But he 
now commences in another strain ; instead of continuing 
these topics, he changes his subject, and begins to show the 
great privileges to be derived in the Gospel dispensation. 

I do not mean to say he never mentions the revelation of 
this glory in any of the preceding chapters, or that all the 
succeeding parts of the book are void of complaints against 
the people ; but the great body of each end of this prophecy 
treats on these two subjects. 

We are not to suppose that the prophet did by choice 
leave off the declarations of God's judgments, or that it was 
painful or wearisome to him to deliver that part of his com- 
mission ; no, it was equally his choice, but he acted under 
God's direction. It might expose him to greater persecu- 
tions ; but he was not answerable to man for the mode or 
matter of his delivery, but to God only, and therefore he 



382 THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED. 

faithfully delivered all his counsel. Herein he has left an 
example to all succeeding ministers. God's true ministers 
are not sent by the people, nor are they amenable to them, 
but of God ! and to him they must answer. It would be 
wrong to account all to whom our message is sent as just 
persons, and address them with comfort as such. I should 
sin against God if I were to address you all as saints, and 
thus daub you with untempered mortar : the children's bread 
must not always be given to strangers ; but we must " cry 
aloud and spare not ; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and 
show my people their transgression and their sins ;" and the 
revelation of the wrath of God must be declared against the 
sinner ! 

But yet there is another part of our commission ; the same 
Being who has commanded that has also said, " Bind up 
the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound ;" and " Com- 
fort ye, comfort ye my people," &c. 

Although the people may mean the whole Jewish Church, 
yet we shall restrict the exhortation to the true people of 
God! 

I. Who are God's people ? 
II. The address to such. 

I. Now, in speaking of them, we shall not multiply de- 
scriptions of their character, or all the marks by which they 
are known ; the fewer we use, and the better, and the easier 
brought home, provided they be prominent, and we can 
easily distinguish them. 

Now, the people of God are they who fear, love, and obey 
him. Propose that to any man, and he will readily assent ; 
but this vague assent will not do } bring it to the touchstone 
of Scripture ; and in proof of this I shall adduce the author- 
ity of Moses, David, and Jesus Christ. 

Moses — Deuteronomy, xxviii., 58, and elsewhere : and 
God, when he delivers his law to them, exclaims, Deuter- 
onomy, v., 29 : " O that there were such a heart in them, 
that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments 



THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED. 383 

always, that it might be well with them, and with their chil- 
dren forever !" 

David — "Blessed is the man that feareth alway ;" "the 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." " O fear the 
Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear 
him." 

Jesus Christ, after cautioning his followers against the fear 
of man, says, "I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: 
Fear him which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast 
into hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him." 

I speak not here of slavish fear? but filial fear ; that fears 
to offend not because of the punishment, but whose cry in 
every temptation is, u how can I commit," &c. — -Have you 
this fear ? I do not say, do you ever feel the reproofs of 
conscience, &c.-— this you may do, and often dread when 
you see the conclave of hell, and behold the lake of fire 
waiting to devour. I care nothing for that ; the devils fear, 
and I believe many who are posting to ruin have often this 
fear; but is yours a filial fear? do you fear to offend God 
because it would grieve him ? is it a godly fear ? This is a 
fear consistent with the highest state of grace, and we are 
to perfect holiness in the fear of God ; and in the highest 
fervours of devotion, when wafted on the spirit's gale to 
heaven, this fear is necessary to repress the rashness of 
love, &c. 

Love — Moses : " Thou shait love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." 
■■ — Many, in speaking of the law of Moses, speak of it only as 
a code of ceremonies, &c. ; they forget the moral law ; this 
is binding on us ; religion must always be the same ; it can 
never alter. 

David: "I love the Lord because he has heard 
my prayers !" here he professes his love, and declares the 
cause of it. Nowadays a man is thought more fit for 
Swift's Hospital* who would profess to know that God 
hears his prayers; yet David knew it, or he could not de- 
clare it, and there is no man who prays sincerely but shall 
in due time know that God hears his prayers! 

* An asylum for lunatics. 



384 THE p E oPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED; 

Jesus Christ being asked which was the greatest com- 
mandment, answers (as did Moses), " Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God," &c. ; and the second is like unto it, " Thou 
shalt love thy neighbour,' 5 &c. ; yes, this is actuated by the 
principle which moves the first, supreme love to God, and 
sincere love to our neighbour. 

Do you love God ? Oh ! say you, surely there is no one 
but loves God ! nay, my Bible says there are some who hate 
him ; "sinner, thou art the man ;" we cannot omit these things. 
Perhaps one says, I hope I do. This is nonsense ; apply it 
to a human case ; would it be an answer for a husband, a 
wife, a child to make ? No ; you would answer directly, 
for you feel you do. 'Tis so with the people of God ; they 
feel they do ; 'tis not a conclusion drawn from abstract prop- 
ositions, logical reasonings, &c, but it is an affection of the 
mind ; he feels it. There are many who decry these things 
and deny it. They think religion and the feelings it pro- 
duces, are not in the passions which we have by nature, and 
that all we can reasonably expect is to hope we are safe ! 
and to hope that all things will be well ! Oh ! be not de- 
ceived with vain words ; no new affections or passions are 
given in religion ; the same natural feeling by which I love 
my wife is as when I love my God ; they differ only in the 
object, and the man that loves God knows it as sensibly as 
he would if he loved his friend ! Believe not that religion 
is a mere physical nothing, which grows up as a child to 
its maturity of manhood without his being conscious of it. 
"We know that we love God by his Spirit given to us. 

But I would here guard against the danger of injuring- 
any one's feelings. I would say comfortable words ; there 
are some so much pressed down by bodily infirmity or ner- 
vous diseases as to be at times doubtful of their states. 
Such may observe, there are various marks in one who loves 
God which cannot be clouded with the garments of anjr sor- 
row. First. One who is his, will delight in his company ,~ 
he will feel a love for private prayer, for shutting out all sen- 
sible objects, and conversing with the Invisible God ! We 
shall always desire the company of those we love ! Second. 
Such delight when He is the subject of conversation (I do 



THE PEOPLE OF GOD DESCRIBED. 385 

not plead for religious gabbling ; such have not much piety, 
and it is not always right to force the subject of religion. 
But there may be a persuasive way of introducing it ; and if 
you associate at any place where you cannot introduce it, 
go there no more.) Third. Such would not offend God ; 
put the question to their hearts, and they find it is not repel- 
led ; they delight in his pleasure. Now these proofs may 
satisfy the poor afflicted that he is " in the people of God," 
though so much dejected. 

Serve or obey — Moses, when he received the law, he 
asked the people, Will ye obey all these things ? They 
promised, and he took the blood of the covenant and sprink- 
led on the people and on the book. When God by his 
prophet reproved his people he said, When did I command 
you to offer to me burnt-offerings, &c. ; to obey is better 
than sacrifice. I told you to obey. This idea is heightened 
by reflecting that God did actually call on them to offer 
burnt-sacrifice ; but he shows that in his esteem it was no- 
thing compared with obedience. But many will say this is 
all legality, and not Gospel ; was not the Mosaic dispensa- 
tion one of grace? Yes, verily, everything since the fall 
was a dispensation of grace, and no enactment since then 
implicitly — u Do this and live!" Nor are these charges to obe- 
dience confined to that dispensation ; they are brought into 
the Gospel i " If ye love me, keep my commandments." 

Do you obey God ? I ask not the drunkard—and who is 
he ? any man who sips and sips, and unfits himself at any 
moment of his life for the more serious act of devotion. God 
has given me his good creatures, but for my use, not abuse ; 
merely to strengthen my body, not to please my appetite, 
and I am " to eat and drink, and whatever I do, do all to 
the glory of God." Such men are not to be brought under 
the feet of their senses. I ask not the swearer ; his actions 
declare he is for hell, and not obeying God. I ask not the 
man who would take advantage of his neighbour's ignorance, 
&c, and defraud him. No ; but do you obey God ? What 
do I mean by obeying God ? In all your actions do you 
ask, is this pleasing or displeasing to him ? and do you thus 
seek to know his will, and act up to it when you know it ; 

33 Coo 



386 THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION. 

taking no step in which you do not feel his approbation ? 
Set him before you all your lives, and ever act under his 
guidance. Can you say with David, Oh ! how I love thy 
law ! 

This is the man who obeys him, and these are his people. 
And this is also the order of their doings. They first fear 
God ; they see the sentence of death has passed upon them ; 
they are pointed to a E-edeemer ; they now love God be- 
cause they feel he has loved them ; and the blending of these 
two produces obedience. * * * # 



SERMON LXVIII. 

THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION, 

James, v., 19, 20. — Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert 
him ; 

Let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall 
save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. 

Conversion is a subject which concerns every one without 
exception, and is a subject of the very first magnitude ! 

I. The nature of conversion. 
II. The importance of it. 
III. The means by which it is assisted (effected). 

I. Man is naturally perverted : all the powers of his soul 
are in a wrong direction, &c, &c. 

And this is the state of all men through sin, '1 for all have 
sinned, and come short of the glory of God." There are 
two kinds of sinners ; those who never knew the way of 
peace, and those who have known and departed from it, 
Peter's change is called conversion ; these are what St. 
James especially means or names ; but the same truth is 
applicable to all. 

Conversion is much controverted by various professors ; 
let us show, then, first what it is not. 

1. It does not consist in a name of Christianity, in an at- 
tachment to this or the other persuasion. It is possible to 



THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION. 387 

have a name to live, and yet be dead. " Not every one that 
saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.'' 
Many professors walk, of whom I have told you often, and 
now tell you even weeping, that " they are the enemies of 
the cross of Christ," &c. 

2. Nor does it consist in the entertaining orthodox opin- 
ions on matters of religion, nor changing from erroneous 
views of the subject to orthodox creeds. This is not the 
conversion of the Bible, or of the Spirit of God ; it is one 
of man's judgment, and is good in itself. 

We do not condemn this, for we are far from thinking 
that it is a matter of indifference to which community you 
are attached or what creed you hold. 

3. Nor does it consist in a reformation of life ; it is possi- 
ble even to go thus far ; to be turned from a libertine to a 
man of regular deportment, &c, and yet not be converted. 
Many are the views which cause this change ; some are 
of interest ; but others, who from a conviction of their judg- 
ment, have cast them off; this is better ; they have saving 
faith in a degree ; it has place in the judgment, and has 
operated in the life : when they shall have believed with the 
heart, it will operate there. 

(1.) Conversion is more than all this — (Flavel) — it is no 
less than an entire change from the love of sin to the love 
of holiness, from the power of Satan to God. Self is re- 
nounced, and God is now his supreme end, &c. His will 
chooses him, his understanding contemplates him, his heart 
adores him, &c. — (Boyce.) 

(2.) This change of all the powers of the soul produces 
conversion of life. As he once yielded his members ser- 
vants to sin, so he now yields them servants to holiness. 
His animal nature is moved by the spring of all true obe- 
dience within him, and God moves in him ! 

This change is very conspicuous in persons who have 
been openly profane ; the change is with them as a new 
creation, and they are called new creatures ! &c. But in 
some who have had the restraining grace of God from in- 
fancy, it is not so manifest to the world ; but, however, the 
individual has the testimony of his own conscience bearing 



388 THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION. 

him witness with the Holy Ghost that he is now truly a child 
of God. This new life is a hidden principle ; but, never- 
theless, it is accepted in the sight of God, who reads the 
heart and sees the sincerity ; and on that day the secrets of 
his heart shall be made manifest. 

II. The importance of it. — Great is its importance. 

1. " It will hide" &c. Many have mistaken this, and 
applied the phrase as applying to the man who is the means ; 
but it is incorrect, for conversion is what must be effected 
in every one, that their sins may be blotted out. David calls 
it, " the Lord imputeth not sin" — again, " his sins are cov- 
ered" — again, " blotted out ;" the conscience is washed. — 
See on Acts hi., 19 v. 

(1.) It shall hide all his past transgressions, and, 
(2.) Prevent all those sins which might otherwise have been 
committed. — So much dishonour to God thereby prevented ! 
At the last day the secrets of all hearts shall be made man- 
ifest. — Oh ! what a disclosure ! If we are often anxious 
here to keep the public mind from the contemplation of 
crimes, as it shocks humanity, see its propriety there. 

2. " It iv ill save a soul from death." Not from natural 
death. All must pay this debt by Adam's sin ; but it will 
save a sold from death, which is of more consequence than 
a body. 

(1.) From spiritual death, that awful state in which a man 
is dead in trespasses and sins ; it will quicken him with 
Christ. 

(2.) From eternal death, everlasting perdition, the second 
death. — Oh ! how great the deliverance from eternal death ! 
the value of a soul ! — Estimate it ; count its price ! — He 
shall save a sold from death ! 

III. We must recollect that from first to last the glory 
redounds to God ; it is by his agency it is effected. — The 
Father drawing the soul to seek his peace in him ; alluring 
him by repeated operations upon his spirit and melting him 
into love. — He then gives them to the Son; the sinner, see- 
ing his need of a Saviour, is brought to the cross ; and as he 
had believed in God, is now exhorted to believe also in Je- 
sus.— The Holy Ghost then takes of the things of the Father 



THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSION. 389 

and the Son, and reveals them unto that soul, bears witness 
with their spirits that they have believed aright, and gives 
them joy in the Holy Ghost through believing. (Oh ! that 
men would preach the acts of the Holy Ghost more, for this 
is specifically his dispensation.) Thus the triune God is 
concerned in our conversion, and is the grand cause ! 

But God does not act on men arbitrarily, but impressively ; 
he could change a soul by his own power ; but human in- 
struments are employed by him — true, in some cases he 
works without them ; in remarkable outpourings of his Spirit 
conversions have taken place without human agency, and 
the libertine has become the servant of Christ. 

But in the ordinary course of his dealings he employs 
agents, 

1. Often by those who have tasted the heavenly food, and 
who long to communicate it to their friends and neighbours ; 
Ihey invite them to come. 

2. But especially by men set apart, the ministers of his 
truth — " who, knowing the terrors of the Lord, persuade 
men." — See what Paul says of them. — The Methodist min- 
istry has been particularly owned of God ; their labours have 
been more abundant, working night and day to spread the 
savour of his name; visiting wretched hamlets, &c, &c. 
(State the labours of our preachers.) 

It would not become me to speak of these things, were it 
not to magnify our call, and to answer those who speak and 
write perverse things. — Though we therefore speak as fools, 
yet as fools let us boast a little ; we sought no man's gain, 
we wronged no man, we preached not for filthy lucre ; God 
is our witness — Ave may lie under odium ; but the day is 
coming when God will justify his servants and confound 
their adversaries, &c, &c, &c. 

What will then be their honour ! they have saved souls 
from death — souls for whom Jesus died — souls, the most val- 
uable things in the universe ! — and, on the other hand, have 
covered so much of that dishonour which sin reflects on the 
Divine character, by hiding a multitude of sins ! Oh ! the 
welcome that their spiritual children will give them, and the 
rejoicing that their deeds of iniquity are hid from every eye ! 



390 THE SOLEMN ASSERTION. 



SERMON LXIX. 

THE SOLEMN ASSERTION. 
Romans, viii., 8. — So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, says: "We are 
bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren be- 
loved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning 
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth ; whereunto he called you by our 
Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." We rejoice to bear the same testimony, &c, and 
we do rejoice that we can do it with many of you ; but un- 
true if we so speak of all ; many of you are mere hearers. — 
Who is in the fault ? " Ye know how we exhorted and 
comforted, and charged every one of you as a father doth 
his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath 
called you unto his kingdom and glory." Ye are yet in the 
flesh, &c. 

I. Consider the characters mentioned in the text. 
II. The solemn assertion — " they cannot please God." 

I. Consider the characters mentioned in the text. 

1. By the term flesh we must understand the corruption 
of our fallen nature. (See 9th article of the Church of Eng- 
land.) 

This principle or depravity is termed flesh, for various 
reasons, 

1. Man being composed of flesh and spirit, when he is in 
an unregenerated, unconverted state, the spirit is dead and 
he is then in the flesh. — (So when God said to Noah.) — Such 
a man lives for earthly purposes, delights in carnal and 
worldly pursuits, and is not alive to those spiritual enjoy- 
ments and elevated purposes for which God designed him. 

2 The corruption of our nature is termed flesh because it 



THE SOLEMN ASSERTION* 391 

adheres so closely to the soul of man. His infirmities and 
natural disobedience are not occasional ; but a part of him 
and identified with him. Nor can he be mended, but cre- 
ated anew ; and God alone „ by the sacrifice of his Son, en- 
ables him to destroy it. 

3. The corruptions are so near and dear to us- — >" No man 
hateth his own flesh.'' 1 — Sin so dear,, he clasps it, though 
death be the consequence* 

4. Because in many instances particular sins are constitu- 
tional, and because the members of the body are employed 
in executing the wishes and desires of our carnal appetites 
and inclination. — Those sins entailed by the fall, from some 
particular weakness of body, may be termed fleshly sins, and 
those in commiseration of which " we yield our members as 
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" — " as ye have 
yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to ini- 
quity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your members ser- 
vants to righteousness unto holiness." 

5. But the most important reason, and that which renders 
the term peculiarly appropriate is, that our sin and corruption 
is innate. Not by imitation — but the stock of Adam : " For 
they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; 
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."— 
" By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; 
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned !" 
This is the doctrine of Scripture, and should not be de- 
parted from until the impugners thereof produce a better. 

" By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." 
So the entailment of these natural sins and crimes consti- 
tutes us of the flesh, and so must continue until born again 
of the Spirit. 

Thus it is not difficult to discover the character — those 
who are not in the Spirit, are dead to the spiritual enjoyment 
of Christ ; as we remarked, the spirit being dead constituted 
us of the flesh ; so the flesh being dead constitutes us of the 
Spirit : " And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because 
of sin ; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." In 
some cases a man may be partially alienated from the world, 
partly attracted by the Gospel — but carnal inclinations occa- 



392 THE SOLEMN ASSERTION. 

sionally predominate, which shows that the flesh remains in 
him. Still there is a material difference between him and 
the man who is emphatically flesh — absorbed in the pur- 
suits of the world, lost in its pollutions. — He is in the flesh — 
surrounded and governed by it ; he neglects the drawing of 
the Spirit ; his affections are devoted to the flesh ; his will 
is corrupt and governed by the flesh : walks after the flesh, 
sows after the flesh, reaps after the flesh. 

II. The solemn assertion — they cannot please God. 

1. He cannot in any Scriptural sense please God, nor 
claim his blessing. He may acquire the good opinion of his 
neighbours for usefulness, the gratitude of his country for 
patriotism, thanks of the world for the exertions of genius, 
possess the endearing love of his family for domestic virtues, 
yet he cannot please God if in the flesh — -which is still pos- 
sible. Unless he is made a new creature, he cannot claim 
the favour of Heaven. He must be justified by faith, and 
made a new creature in Christ Jesus. The righteousness 
of ivorks which he was establishing must give way : " Be- 
cause the carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not 
subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be;" and 
that which is at enmity cannot please him. * * 

2. But this affirms great misery on all who are in the 
flesh. Possessed of superior powers for the enjoyment of 
God, yet destitute of it, and under his frown whose favour 
is life. God cannot admit such to the enjoyment of his 
blessing. Do you admit into your company and society 
those who are your professed opponents and enemies, who 
use every endeavour to bring into disrepute your word and 
character ? — Such professors may live in the church ; but 
to them God's ordinances are dry, &c. — clouds without 
rain, &c. To the spiritual man they drop manna, &c. ; to 
the fleshly, a barren desert ; and if here you remain, accus- 
tomed to deceive yourselves by attendance on the ordinan- 
ces, it will be death to you : " For if ye live after the flesh, 
ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the 
deeds of the body, ye shall live." O think of that dread 
moment when mercy is shut out. The edict of the Lord is 
gone forth, and he thinks of it no more but in evil. Such 



THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCES OF THE GOSPEL. 393 

has been the dread resolve of Heaven ; but it now remains 
In your power to avert it, through Christ Jesus. 

3.. But we may consider the awful assertion as implying a 
fatal inability, while in the flesh, to please God, because they 
do not do the will of God. He wills our salvation, and the 
circumstance of being in the flesh is contrary even to his 
command. 

The causes of this inability are not physical, but moral ; 
the brute animal labours under physical inability ; but there 
is a spirit in man capable of better things. Religion is pro- 
posed to man as the grand business of his life. We are en- 
dued with conscience to detect — will to choose. — We have 
every physical power requisite. But how is it we do nfti 
choose God? Because we are morally defective — in the 
flesh. — 

We cannot please him, because we are defective in motive 
also, as well as power. * # # # * 

But our inability is not invincible. * # # 



SERMON LXX. 

THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCES OF THE GOSPEL. 

i Timothy, i., 11. — According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was 
committed to my trust. 

It is pleasing to contemplate God as the Father of the 
human race, and see the means adopted for the welfare of 
the family. " He made of one blood all nations of men for 
to dwell on all the face of the earth," and gave all a rational 
and immortal soul — loving to every man, &c. — always con- 
sulted the happiness of man — air, water, &c. — " gave all 
things richly to enjoy" — " filling the heart with food and 
gladness." 

But see man a candidate for immortality — hence He has 
revealed His will ; and although given gradually, yet clearer, 
&c. — to the perfect day ; yet all the rays were from the 
same source, Hebrews, i., 1, 2 : " God, who at sundry times, 

Ddd 



394 THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCIES OF THE GOSPEL, 

and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers 
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us 
by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,, by 
whom also he made the worlds :" and as the Gospel ema- 
nates from God, Paul well calls it, " According to the glori- 
ous Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to 
my trust." 

I. The nature of the Gospel — the Gospel means the whole 
history of Jesus — but more limited, the system of mercy pro- 
vided for man through a Mediator — the Gospel is founded 
on the fall — " all have sinned, and come short of the glory 
of God ;" and experience confirms it, from the world's gir- 
dle to the frozen pole ; if we ascend the stream of time, the 
truth forces on us — death reigns over all ! — God, as the 
moral Governor, is bound to punish sin — he cannot see it 
with indifference — "his wrath is revealed from heaven 
against all ungodliness," &c. — see the Gospel — glad news 
— offers salvation. 

1. It makes known the Saviour (enlarge on Isaiah, lxiii., 
1) — " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." 

2. It not only reveals him, but offers salvation in his name 
from the guilt and power of sin : the Gospel supposes we are 
in danger, and saves also from the fear of death and the 
damnation of hell, and into peace, purity, &c, and reveals 
to us our final glorification. 

3. In it the terms of salvation are clearly revealed — they 
are such as accord with our rational nature — not penances, 
&c. — It does not require us to ascend into heaven, &c. — 
but the word is nigh thee, &c. — repentance and faith. — In 
fine, the Gospel is a system of mercy; " eyes to the blind 
and feet to the lame — life to the dead." 

II. Its distinguishing excellences : "glorious" — the term 
sometimes means bright, peculiarly excellent — this sense 
here ; but more particularly it means a display of the wis- 
dom and power of God — it is not confined to the glory on 
Sinai — but see Moses — it means the riches of his grace made 
known. — It is the brightest display of the perfections of God 



THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCIES OF THE GOSPEL. 395 

— true, " the heavens declare the glory of God ; and the 
firmament showeth his handy work" — true, his glory was 
displayed in giving the law to the Israelites— they could not 
look on Moses ! — But the Gospel more glorious than the 
law: more glorious in its ministers, design, privileges — 
blessings — extent — it is the moon, but the Gospel is the sun ! 

See how his wisdom is gloriously displayed in the Gospel 
— sentence has passed on man — the soul that sins must die 
— this must be executed, or where is God's truth ? If exe- 
cuted, where is God's mercy ? But see the wisdom of God 
— he finds out the way himself — Jesus must die, " the just 
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" — mercy and 
truth meet, all the attributes agree, and his wisdom is dis- 
played. 

See his power displayed in the Gospel : 

" 'Twas great to speak a world from naught, 
'Twas greater to redeem ;" 

easier that God should draw earth to heaven, than vice 
versa. — See his love, mercy, goodness ! they shine with lus- 
tre ! Herein is love ! — Romans, v. 

3. All its blessings are peculiarly excellent. Divine truth 
can only be known by revelation — " Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love him;" 
but the Spirit revealed them in the Gospel — the atonement, 
faith, and holiness, &c, &c, bring life and immortality to 
light through the Gospel and the resurrection of the body, &c. 

4. Glorious in its design. — Many are conquerors of na- 
tions — thousands of orphans and widows thereby ; and yet 
they covered themselves with glory ! — but a glory only wor- 
thy Apollyon ! — But the Gospel's design is to save (Calvin- 
ism) — not a country * * * the world. 

5. Glorious in privileges. — Sometimes we are attracted 
by wealth, titles, &c. But, sons of God !— the honour ! 
" Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be : but we know that when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." 
"If sons, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with 
Christ." 



396 THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCES OF THE GOSPEL. 

6. Peculiarly excellent in the moral effects it produces in 
the hearts and lives of men. — Let the heart receive it by 
faith, and it operates. Dark ? Light in the Lord. — Bound ? 
Chains fall off. — Is the soul like a troubled sea ? When the 
Gospel comes, there is peace. — Is it polluted ? A general 
alteration on the reception of the Gospel. Drunkards made 
sober, &c. ; the soul is then exalted in the scale of being. — 
Let the Gospel penetrate a foreign land — be they cannibals, 
idolaters, semi-devils — human nature entirely changed, tem- 
ples turned to churches, &c. ; peace and good-will is among 
them, and they love each other, &c. 

Now God often chooses instruments the most unlikely, 
which shows the power to be of God. — See Moses with the 
rod at the Red Sea — speak to the rock, and strike, and wa- 
ters flowed. — Jericho's walls — blind man and clay — fisher- 
men its instruments, and all the power of the wisdom of the 
world against it — how unlikely it should prevail ! — but the 
weapons mighty through God, and nations subdued to the 
obedience of faith. 

7. It is glorious in its reward, here, and beyond this 
world. Describe the New Jerusalem and Him that sits on 
the throne, and the eternal weight of glory. * * 

III. Its Divine authority: " Of the blessed God." — Mention 
some of his titles as the High, the Holy One that inhabiteth 
eternity ; but no title more endearing than this. Blessed — 
happy and glorious in himself, yet he formed man to com- 
municate a portion of his own happiness, and then gave the 
Gospel to restore him, (two senses of blessed). 

Now it is Divine — its purity and design prove this : it has 
the marks of human credibility on it — it gives names, places, 
&c. ; but more — its Author proclaims its Divine authority — 
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" &c. Just men pen- 
ned it — -miracles confirmed it — all these prove it was Divine. 
The prophecies it contains prove it ; part are fulfilled, and 
others fulfilling — the effect produced everywhere in the 
hearts of all who receive it, proves this ; it is the same in all. 

IV. Its design: " Committed to my trust;" it is a deposite 
— " Stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1. Commit- 
ted to Christian ministers in trust. 2. To all who receive it 



THE CHRISTIAN RACE. 397 

—not the terms or matter given by way of trust — these are 
settled : but the dispensation committed to man that he may 
enjoy its blessings, &c. And, 3. To mankind at large : 
4i The light of the world," says Jesus — its blessings are suit- 
ed to man as man : it interferes with no civil government, 
and all who possess the Gospel have it in deposite for others. 
Are we partakers of its blessings, pardon, &c— -else the 
Gospel will condemn us ; it will be the condemnation of the 
world. — This is the sin of the world, " That light is come 
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, 
because their deeds were evil." " If I had not come and 
spoken unto them, they had not had sin ; but now they 
have no cloak for their sin." God offers you pardon in it : 
u Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." Cast your souls on the atoning 
blood.- — If pardoned, seek its highest blessings — endeavour 
to communicate it to others : 

1. Our children. 

2. In the town. 

3. In the country. 

4. In the kingdom, 
<f). All the world. 



SERMON LXXL 



THE CHRISTIAN RACE. 



Hebrews, xii., 1, 2. — Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so greaS 
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily 
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was 
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right 
•hand of the throne of God. 

The subject the Christian race— all men are candidates — ■ 
but those only to be considered truly in this light who have 
entered the lists— all Christians, 

I. The race — 'tis one of, 

1. Christian knowledge. 

2. Christian experience. 
34 



398 THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES. 

3. Christian duties. 

4. Christian sufferings. 
The phrase implies, 

1. Exertion. 

2. Progression. 

3. Perseverance. 

II. The duties connected with it. 

Lay aside every weight — sin of every kind — but particu- 
larly, 

1. Attachment to the company with which formerly con- 
nected. 

2. Love of the world, and inordinate attachment even to 
our lawful calling. 

3. Improper fear of man — accommodation and compro- 
mise of the fear of God. 

And the besetting sin ! 

III. The encouragement afforded. 

1. The cloud of witnesses. 

These are testifiers as well as spectators. 

2. Jesus himself. 

And he as an example also, " who for the joy," &c. 

Can we be tempted or suffer as he did ? 

And remember, we too shall sit down in his throne. 



SERMON LXXIL 

THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES. 

Daniel, v., 27. — Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting 

The king in high glee. — Struck pale in a moment. — Con- 
text. — 

I. Balance the law. 

Explain the ten commandments. 

II. Balance the Gospel. 

1. Repentance. 

2. Faith in Christ. 

3. Love to God in Christ, 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS, 399 

4. Divine obedience. 

■5. Evangelical holiness. 

III. Balance the last judgment. 

1. All men raised from the dead. 

2. The whole heavens pass away. 

3. The world inflames, 

4. Sovereign Judge seated. 

5. Angelic hosts surround him, 

6. The books opened. 

7. The balances erected. 

8. Evangelical works the weights in the one end, men m 
the other. — The fate, salvation or damnation. 

No need of weighing the herd of sinners in general ; their 
state is evident without — But let us see, 

1. The Socinians. 

2. The Pharisees. 

3. Antinomiansc 

4. Apostates* 

5. Hypocrites, 

6. Saints. 

.Application. — Let us examine ourselves* 



SERMON LXXIII. 

GLORYING IN THE CROSS. 
A MISSIONARY SERMON*. 

Galatians, vi., 14. — But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

Under the influence of strong emotions, Paul departs from 
the common modes of speech, as in the text — Paul was the 
subject of powerful excitement — his mind strongly agitated 
—he had heard that the Galatians, among whom he had 
planted the cross, &c, to avoid persecution, were glorying 
in circumcision, &c. How did he feel ! and how did he ex- 
press it ! — Disdaining everything as a substitute for the cross, 
he exclaims, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the 



400 GLORYING IN THE CROSS 1 . 

cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is cru- 
cified unto me, and I unto the world." — What ? — ashamed 
to own that death by which we live ? * * * 

There was a period in Paul's life when he thought other- 
wise. * # # But there was another period in his history 
never to be forgotten, when the law came home. * * * 
Now " I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet 
not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live 
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved 
me, and gave himself for me." From that period to his dis- 
solution, all he did or said was in reference to the cross ! — 
the ground of his confidence — the object of his triumph. — 
Ci But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,. 
and I unto the world." 

I. Explain the terms. 
II. Justify the resolution* 

I. "The cross of Christ" Not the literal cross, for it 
was the basest kind of suffering ; as though he had said, 
u God forbid that I should glory, save in a piece of timber ." 

Nor the martyr's cross ; though there was a striking in- 
stance of humility, meekness, patience ; as though he had 
said, " God forbid that I should glory, save in those stones 
fatal to Satan," or any other instrument, &c. 

But the meritorious sacrificial cross ! By the Father's 
appointment redeemed man. (Bunting' on 12th Luke, S2d 
v.) The cross was the consummation of the mysterious 
scene and transaction. — -In connexion with this he means 
the whole doctrine of salvation through the merit of Jesus ; 
this is synonymous with the cross. " Glorying" in the cross 
— not boasting only — no man would boast of anything he* 
was not acquainted with. — Experimental — -Paul found all 
else but loss. He saw everything in the doctrine to com- 
mand his approbation. 

Not merely his affectionate attachment to it — though how 
did his affections cling to it. 

Not merely acquaintance, approbation, affection, but tri- 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS. 401 

umph. His feelings struggled for expression— he never con- 
cealed his glory — among friends or foes— though insulted for 
it, no matter — " laugh at me, confine me, kill me, still I glory 
in Christ crucified!" 

Only in the cross — what means he by this ? All kinds of 
glorying unconnected with the cross are vain ! — He could 
boast — Hebrew of the Hebrews — his countrymen gloried in 
these things, and he formerly. — (Enlarge on that passage 
in the Philippians.) 

Some say he gloried in nothing but the cross — not true — 
but in nothing but what was connected with the cross. — See 
him with the thorn in the flesh — he gloried there, but it was 
because the power of Christ would be more illustrious— 
again, " We glory in tribulations," but we refer them to the 
cross ; they come on account of it. 

Doubtless, also, he gloried in the birth of Christ, for angels 
did so — he gloried in the ministry of his Lord — in the mira- 
cles — in the example of his Master — in the resurrection of 
Jesus — in the ascension of Jesus — in the intercession of Je- 
sus — but he knew that all these were in vain without the sac- 
rificial death ! 

He gloried in the wisdom of Christ — the power — the 
throne — the crown — the sceptre — the kingdom of Christ ; 
but all these are nothing to guilty man without the vicarious 
offering, for " without shedding of blood there is no remis- 
sion." 

" How can these things be ?" says one. " Glory in a 
spectacle of horror ! a man crucified !— an event that dis- 
covered nothing but desertion, humiliation, and shame! 5 ' — - 
But see Elijah, when his servant's eyes were opened, &c. — 
so Paul's eyes were opened ; and if the Holy Ghost speak 
" Ephphata" to thy heart, thou shalt see that the cross of 
Christ is our crown, his death our life, his shame our glory. 
Then shalt thou say, " God forbid that I should glory, save 
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

II. Justify the resolution. 

That it was PauVs conduct and sentiment, ought to be 
enough for a common mind * * # his mighty mind — his 
learning. — (Littleton.) Come, ye infidels ; ye who boast 

E E E 



402 GLORYING IN THE CROSS. 

your powers of intellect — but you are in good company if 
with the great apostle of the Gentiles. 

In justifying Paul's resolution, so many reasons offer, we 
can scarce make a selection — there is every reason. 

1. It is the grand consummation of all the preceding dis- 
pensations of God to man. — For four thousand years, Grace, 
Providence, &c, all tended to this one object. — In reference 
to this, promises made, predictions, sacrifices. Jews kept 
distinct, for of them Christ came. Every part of their his- 
tory had a special reference hereto : their deliverance from 
bondage — the rock in the desert — serpent of brass, and mul- 
titude of other circumstances, all pointed hereto ; and every 
pious Jew waited for the consolation of Israel. Now it 
came, &c. 

Now the Jewish altars need smoke no more. Thou rock 
in Horeb, we turn from thee — thou brazen serpent, we leave 
thee to look on Jesus, &c, &c. Ye twinkling stars of typi- 
cal dispensations, hide your heads, for the sun has risen, 
though eclipsed in blood — but soon over. 

2. It is the place and scene of a decisive victory over the 
Lord's enemies and ours — promise to Eve — the opposition 
on Satan's part was kept up till the seed came — then a 
fierce attack — Herod — the wilderness — the garden, what a 
struggle — the annals of war record nothing like this ! — In 
this scene the potsherds of the earth are not striving ; nor is 
it for a few inches of ground, like human warfare. * * * 
The fate of all nations suspended on that hour — all hell's 
legions in motion. — See how Jesus approaches it ! " Fa- 
ther, the hour is come !" — the hour ! the moment towards 
which all time has been tending. — He enters singly, u for of 
the people none to help him" — nailed to the cross! The 
joy of hell on this ! they are sure of victory ! — But hush ! 
Jesus is travailing in the greatness of his strength — on the 
cross his victory is the greatest — rocks — sun — -angels sus- 
pend, and make a pause in heaven— hell trembles — " spoils 
principalities and powers — in it, the cross." True, he died ; 
but in dying he conquered ! — We will then glory — shout, 
shout, shout ! 

3. As the procuring cause of every blessing to Adam's 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS, 403 

race. Not enough to rescue us, but purchase good things 
for us also — (Clarke) Rom., viii., 32, all tinged with blood ! 

Were not his blood meritorious, these things might in 
Scripture have been attributed to the birth, example, &c, 
of Christ. — But no, all is attributed to his blood, and that 
meritorious — " Made nigh by blood"—" opened the holiest 
by blood." — The agonizing conscience can only go to Cal- 
vary's wounded tree, which bleeds the balm he wants—" re- 
demption in his blood." — Is he anxious to be now in the 
family ?— -" Peace by his blood" — " reconciled," not by the 
example, but " by the death of his Son." Are we unclean ? 
Only one specific, "the fountain opened" — " the blood of 
Christ cleanseth from all sin." Have we an enemy ? The 
road to victory over death gained by the blood of the Lamb ; 
for by his dying he conquered death. Is Paradise to be ob- 
tained ? Only one way: they all cry there, " To him that 
washed and redeemed us by his own blood" — all, all given 
to the precious blood ! ! ! 

Shall we not, then, glory in it ? What grace — glory — 
heaven : the grand charter of all is from this cross ! — " God 
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ." 

4. The most powerful and effectual incentive to all kinds 
of moral excellence. — Many have said " this doctrine tends 
to licentiousness ;" if so, Paul could never glory in it. 

He was aware that such objections would be made. " Do 
we make void the law through faith ?" " God forbid," as 
in the text ; "we establish the law :" this produces genuine 
morality. " Shall we continue in sin ?" " God forbid" 
We are dead to sin by the cross of Christ ! 

On the cross, the moral law stands out in greater charac- 
ters. — See moral grandeur there ! — Hatred of sin ? What 
could God give in proof of this equal to Jesus ? Can 
you, then, love sin ? * * * What are you thinking of ? 
What moral excellence ? — Patience, fortitude, &c. — are you 
thinking of this ? — What moral virtue is before you ? Is it 
forgiveness? See the cross — he prays! — Is it charity? 
See the cross — dying for a world ! 

5. The cross of Christ furnishes the power to (transenter) 



404 GLORYING IN THE CROSS. 

all this morality in your hearts. Talk of morals ? Talk, 
talk, talk to us of repentance — everlasting reason * * * 
The grand morality is love of him ! Implant this in a pen- 
itent's heart. — " The dying love of Christ constrains us, &c." 
# # # By its power crucified to the world. (Compare the 
cross of Christ with the Upas-tree.) If plants of bitterness be 
yet in us, it is not the fault of the cross : but we do not live un- 
der its shade, or they would wither, while all the fruits of 
Paradise, of righteousness which are by Christ, &c. — And 
is it so ? Then " God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Many other reasons — let these suffice. — 

What place does the cross of Christ hold with you ? 
Have you erased the cross of Christ from your creed ? 

If it is there, what place does it hold in your affections ? 
Is this cross the ground of your confidence &c. ? — Some 
of you glory in wealth — learning, &c. I hope none of you 
are glorying in sin — glorying in your shame ? I charge 
you — the blood of Christ be on thee ! — the wrath of the 
Lamb ! * * * Great day of his wrath ! "If in his love 
so terrible" * # * Are you glorying in pious parents — bap- 
tism, &c. ? — Alas ! — But ah ! poor penitent ! I look to thee ! 
The command has come home ! Thou hast been pointed to 
Jesus! thou hast believed — thou art washed, &c. ! In 
what dost thou glory ? "I nothing have, I nothing am" — " I 
glory in him who loved me better than his own life !" — Go 
on — confess him and his cross — be not ashamed. 

" Christian ministers," do we make Christ crucified the 
topic of our sermons ? — You will then know whether we 
preach like apostles. — " We preach not ourselves, but Christ 
Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' 
sake." Can we glory in our talents and keep Christ out of 
sight ? Shall we glory in the harmony of periods, and keep 
Christ out of mind ? But can we glory in the life, the ex- 
ample of Christ, and keep his death out of sight? "I 
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified!" Again, going to Rome — ah! 
lie will talk then about the Supreme Being, &c. " I am 
ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 405 

also." — Now he hears the Galatians are about to conceal the 
cross. — What ! blot the sun out of the system ! all doctrines 
revolve round this, and receive their light and effect from it ! 

This doctrine has had many triumphs — it still triumphs ! — 
it has conducted millions to glory ! — it is the doctrine that 
shall prevail. This is the doctrine our missionaries are ma- 
king known— if you approve it, give ! 

Moravian missionary preaching the Lord. — " Say it 
again,' 5 said the Indian : yes, they will never tire saying it 
again. ###### # 

If anything this morning can bring a good collection, it 
will be the cross of Christ. * * * * 

1$ 'Tv *7& "A* - "Sv* "7f» *^* *7f* 



SERMON LXXIV. 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



1 John, i., 9.— If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Sin is defined, " the transgression of the law" — all non- 
conformity to God's law, whether of commission or omission, 
is sin. — John's definition — three things in the idea of sin — ■ 
lawgiver — law given — law broken. 

1. Lawgiver is God ! — our Maker ! has a right to be our 
governor, and, as such, he is authorized to make laws for our 
conduct — often ready to maintain marts rights — forget not 
God's rights — this is one, his right to govern — he gave life, 
and should give law. 

2. Law given. — God has exercised his right as our Maker 
and Governor by various degrees and in various ways ; not to 
speak of internal conscience, the light of every man, he has 
made known to us a clearer law— moral — written — besides 
the ceremonial, two tables of stone, ten precepts, the sum- 
mary of the moral law. Morale to distinguish from the cer- 
emonial ; this binding only on the Jews, and transient, 
binding on them only in their dispensation : that binding on 
all, and perpetual, immutable ! It has been confirmed by 
the Gospel ; Jesus Christ submitted to it— made under it— 



406 CONFESSION OF SIN. 

practised it — as an example — enforced it — gave a summary 
more brief than it — more valuable, too, as it brings forth the 
leading principle of it — love ! 

3. Law broken. — Sin is its violation — text says, " confess 
this ;" a duty often enjoined in Holy Scripture. So Solomon 
says. * * * Jesus Christ, in the parable of the prodigal, 
makes it a leading feature : " I have sinned against heaven 
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy 
son" — danger of the nature of true confession. 

I. The nature of the duty. 
II. The promise annexed to its performance. 
III. The security afforded for its fulfilment. 

I. The nature of the duty. 

1. It must be sincere and cordial — not lips, but heart ! — re- 
sult of conviction. He who truly confesses is impressed 
with the majesty of the lawgiver ; a formalist may confess, 
but he only feels sin as an offence against society, or his own 
character : but the true penitent is so convinced that sin is 
against God, that he cries, " against thee only :" he feels 
that he has been in rebellion, high-treason against the King 
of Kings. The formalist confesses, but says much to ex- 
cuse — that God acts too hard : the true penitent is con- 
vinced of the equity of the lawgiver — every precept — all 
right and good — no fault but in him. — The formalist con- 
fesses, but exclaims against the penalty the law demands : 
not so the penitent ; he feels no such thing as a little sin — he 
feels that he is doomed to eternal death, and thus feeling, 
cries, " It is just, the sentence should take place." 

2. Abandon sin for the future. — Pharaoh confessed, but 
he was under the influence of carnal terror — no sooner was 
the rod removed than he returned to his old sins — abandon 
them — cut off the right hand, &c. 

3. Confession must be personal and individual. — Nothing 
more worthless than the vague confession with which the 
world abounds : " God help us, we are all sinners ;" this is 
rather to confess others'* sins, or classed in general mass. But 
those recorded in Scripture are personal — David — Publi- 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 407 

can — me a sinner — not us sinful sons of Adam ; not us sin- 
ful inhabitants of Judea ; nor us publicans — but he loses 
sight of all others — me. 

4. Must be general and comprehensive — not one particular 
sin, perhaps recently committed, or which happens to expose 
us to human censure, &c. But all, of every kind — and take 
pains to recollect— by closet work — by comparing with God's 
word. * * * Not only of our outward conduct, but our 
tempers and dispositions — an idle thought is wicked — not 
only confess the sin of our life, but of our nature. Formal- 
ists are deficient here — they say their hearts were good — not 
so the penitent ; his heart a thousand times worse — he finds 
that not only was the stream tainted, but the fountain. 

5. Frank, honest, and ingenuous — no excuse — no whiting 
— all such is evil— confess in all aggravations — the true pen- 
itent cannot discover the most favourable circumstance, 
though others may see some such in it. See the prodigal— 
against thee — in thy sight — these are what make sin ex- 
ceeding sinful. — - 

6. Must be connected with a believing application to God 
for mercy through a Mediator. — Judas no better for his 
confession — no penitence in that — his was despair — the sor- 
row of the world worketh death — but godly sorrow not — 
when it degenerates to despair, it ceases to be repentance. 
— The scapegoat taught the necessity of this looking for 
mercy by faith — confessed their sins on the goat — a typical 
transfer on it. So, on Jesus — the hand of faith laying hold 
on him. ##*#%# 

II. The promise annexed to its performance. 

1. "We receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance 
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ 
Jesus." If with true penitence and faith we confess, God 
will forgive. — This does not imply an alteration in the 
proper desert of sin — it is always hateful — not less so when 
it is pardoned — entertain the same feelings we had when 
seeking pardon — this makes us loath ourselves. But for- 
giveness implies the remission of the penalty. — God does 
not impute sin when the sinner is pardoned. — Blessings are 
connected with it also. 



408 CONFESSION OF SIN. 

1. Peace with God. 2. A persuasion of our adoption— 
pardon is the act of God as a Sovereign — adoption as a 
gracious Father ; yet they always go together. 3. It is con- 
nected further with a title to eternal happiness — " heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ!" 

2. This is the first part of the promise — forgiveness — the 
guilt. The other part is purification from all unrighteous- 
ness. — In sin two things are to be considered — the sinful 
act, and the sinning principle which led to it. — It taints the 
whole man ! — corrupts, so as to offend God ! — God then 
promises the Holy Ghost to believers — not as a Comforter 
only, but a Sanctifier. This work is begun at, and from, the 
time of justification. This blessing is initio, imparted at thai 
moment. — Christ sets up his throne, rules, and begins to 
make all things new. Every pardoned man is, in a meas- 
ure, sanctified : he hates sin, and if "he follow on to know 
the Lord," all darkness will be removed. — (See Howe, 

P . ii.) 

III. The security afforded for its fulfilment. 

The faithfulness and justice of God. 

1. Faithfulness is accuracy in fulfilling an engagement. 
God has bound himself hereto ! — " I will be merciful to their 
unrighteousness and their sins, and their iniquities will I re- 
member no more." — " Come now, and let us reason togeth- 
er, saith the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool." — " I am he that blotteth out thy trans- 
gressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy 
sins." — " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrigh- 
teous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, 
and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he 
will abundantly pardon." Promises of purity also : " I will 
pour clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all 
your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." 
— " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." — This is a 
promise as well as a precept. — Now He cannot lie, nor re- 
pent. — What inducement in God to violate them ? Men 
often make rash promises, and as often break them. — God 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 409 

makes no thoughtless ones ; all settled in mercy and grace. 
Men do them faithlessly — God is truth itself. — Men often 
cannot perform through unforeseen events. Not so God. It 
is his changeless purpose to forgive all who come in his way. 

2. Justice also. — We do not explain this in reference to 
his promises to us, but his engagements with the Messiah. — 
Certain transactions are recorded, when sacrifices could not 
put away sin, " but a Divine appointment was necessary. " 
Christ said, " Lo ! I come*" — He undertook to be man's 
substitute as a sufficient atonement — our kinsman — what 
he undertook he performed. " In the fulness of time God 
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might re- 
ceive the adoption of sons." — -But on what condition ?— this, 
" When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he 
shall see his seed \ he shall prolong his days, and the pleas- 
ure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand : he shall see the 
travail of his soul, and be satisfied." Now after the Son 
had performed, died^risen — if the Father refused to par- 
don and sanctify, to save one who came in His way, he 
would be unjust to his Christ. — So infinitely sure are we of 
salvation if we will be saved in God's way. " If we con- 
fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

Faithful and just ? These were the attributes from which 
we had originally nothing to hope. If he said, " Faithful 
to punish" all could believe; if "merciful and gracious to 
forgive," no difficulty. But an act of justice I How ? Chrisfs 
atonement solves all ! it is the key ! We defy any who re- 
ject the atonement to make any sense of this text. How 
can such go to the justice of God, and demand forgiveness ? 
" God is a consuming fire." 

But if we look at the atonement all is clear. Christ suf- 
fered : he was God's own Son !— Therefore there is an in- 
finite merit in his sufferings and death. — Hence, God can be 
just, and yet a Saviour ! * * * Do not be satisfied with 
admiring this plan, but make a practical application. Let 
us be willing to look at our sins — drink in our shame- 
humble ourselves — come to the throne of grace, and on 
35 F f f 



410 TALENTS MISIMPROVED RESUMED BY THE OWNER, 

Christ's grounds expect, and humbly claim that God would 
forgive them all ! Then look for the Holy Ghost, the Com- 
forter and Sanctifier, and at last he will crown us with 
glory in the life of the world to come. 



SERMON LXXV. 

TALENTS MISIMPROVED RESUMED BY THE OWNER. 

Matthew, xxv., 29. — For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance : but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he 
hath. 

Two principles run through revelation. 

1. All good is from God. 

2. All damnation is from men. — Fletcher. 

Though the text leads to the first, yet it leads chiefly to 
the latter : the words occur in connexion with the parable 
of the talents, and that of the sower no less than five times, 
and always in this connexion. The meaning is, that he who 
improves what he has shall receive more, either in kind or 
value, here and hereafter — and vice versa. 

Apply the text, 

I. To Providential favours. 
II. To useful gifts. 

III. To religious privileges. 

IV. To vital piety. 

V. To missionary zeal. 

I. Providential favours. 

All good is from God — this is a state of trial, and God 
will judge us for his gifts. Among his Providential favours, 
wealth is one ; yet who will own himself rich ? Many are 
willing to quit the title when they find that the statutes of 
heaven have laid such a tax of charity on them. — They 
evade the tax. Ask the man with one hundred pounds, and 
he points to one with a thousand ; ask him, and he yet points 
to others. Wesley defined a rich man to be, " one who had 



TAXENTS MISIMPROVEB RESUMED BY THE OWNER. 411 

enough for present wants, and a little over."— He is not rich 
who appears great, and this on another's property, and fails 
# * # "VVe may not expend or give away another's property. 
— " Owe no man anything."— But a man who has anything 
over his wants, must not say, " 'Tis mine:" but the Lord's 
steward — he may not consult any how to lay it out, but the 
Bible. — There he finds it is not to be hoarded, nor squander- 
ed, nor in finery, nor to make children proud — but God in- 
tends him for his steward to the poor, and to cast into the 
Lord's treasury, according, not to what others do, but to 
what he hath. 

Now, if employed thus, the text says, he shall have more. 
How often is this paid in kind : while the niggard loses his 
gripe, your stores increase. — But if God do not increase 
wealth, he receives in value, if not in kind. What heartfelt 
satisfaction when feeding the poor and the widow, &c. But 
there is another world: "And God is not unrighteous to 
forget your work and labour of love which ye have showed 
towards his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, 
and do minister :" their works follow after. — " But he 
who has not, from him shall be taken even that which he 
hath." The miser's wealth often flies away — but if not, 
the more he has, the more avaricious : he has no enjoy- 
ment — a covetous man cannot. What ! seeing his broth- 
er and the cause of God have need, and shutteth up his 
bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of 
God in him ? What ! has he religion ? He may have a 
name, and a high office, but God sees him as an idolator, 
and no such " hath eternal life abiding in him." Take care, 
and send your money to heaven. — " Where is the messen- 
ger ?" " Give to the poor, and treasure in heaven" — give it 
to charity and piety.—" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
me." 

Influence is another Providential favour ; as a parent, mas- 
ter, &c. 

II. Useful gifts. — 

For the souls of men — clear understanding, correct judg- 
ment, good memory, engaging address.- — He begins to open 



412 TALENTS MISIMPROYED RESUMED BY THE OWNER, 

his mouth, say in a class ; it is with fear and trembling : by»- 
and-by his usefulness is increased. — See him improving ac- 
cording to the Giver's design ; and what is this ? Is it 
applause ? Is it for a livelihood ? — No ; infinitely higher r 
that he might not aim at display r but pleasing the Giver, and 
for the good of the creature — points them to him. 

In this character does not God increase them ? — Under- 
standing more clear, judgment more correct, readier tongue, 
&c. ; and in this is he not happy here ? — But see the reward 
in the skies : many are " his joy and his crown !" 

But he who has not, &c. — does not stir up the gift of God, 
&c.-— lives on his stores, &c. — where are his gifts and use- 
fulness ? But suppose worse. One whispers in his ear, 
"He is a prodigy ;" he drinks it in, and his aim then is to- 
show himself, &c. — "From him will betaken away even that 
he hath." It has often happened — then he has no pleasure 
here, nor prospect hereafter — but fire ! — " Rejoice not that 
the devils are subject to you :" more important to be ap- 
proved of God ! 

III. Religious privileges. 

In having the Gospel record and a living ministry. — See 
our forefathers. — To the Gospel, then, we owe even our 
civilization. But see man as immortal ! Darting through 
the air ! — The Gospel brings glad tidings ! And oh ! the 
public ministry !— »" Now, every one that hath, to him shall be 
given, and he shall have more abundantly." And what is the 
Giver's design in this ? Is it to come to church, listen, and 
pass your opinion ? It is that you obey the word.-— If you 
show every other sign, however hopeful, all nothing unless 
you keep the word in practice. " Blessed are they that 
hear the word of God and keep it." — " Thy mother and 
thy brethren stand without,, desiring to speak with thee. 
But he said unto him that told him, Who is my mother ? 
and who are my brethren ? And he stretched forth his 
hands to his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my 
brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
mother." — Such a man, thus improving, is no wayside hear- 
er — nor a stony ground — soon pleased and soon offended 



TALENTS MISIMPROVEB RESUMED BY THE OWNER. 413 

— nor a ihorny, who bids fair for a season— but he brings 
forth fruit — God gives them more abundantly— their knowl- 
edge of the Bible increases astonishingly ; and, knowing the 
first principles, they can go on with the preacher : not only 
their knoivledge, but their love, joy, zeal, &c. 

Others do not improve. — Awful that three fourths of the 
seed in the parable w T as lost. — Turn over your own con- 
science : have you " obeyed from the heart V Not, " do you 
praise it V x Is it your rule daily? Such who do not, shall 
lose all the benefit intended, and, perhaps, through their 
neglect, the village or town may lose the Gospel — others 
following them. See in the Acts : it is said of many places, 
they preached the Gospel there — what a tombstone ! — the 
sepulchre of the Gospel ! But is it preached there now ? 
Alas ! the candlestick is removed. 

IV. Vital piety : 

More than profession of attachment to Jesus and his 
cause, however respectable, regular, and long continued.— 
It may be as decent as that of the five virgins. — It must be 
vital — a flame kindled in the heart from God's own altar 
while man is faithful. — Now what is God's design here ? 
To exercise it and grow in it ; and by living by the vital 
faith he experiences, his faith increases to a father's : he 
holds fast now ; in Christ he has life! " To him shall be 
given!" 

" But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away 
even that he hath." How many lose vital piety : they 
think, ■" Now my mountain is strong ; I need not pray so 
much, nor be so strict in denying and watching. Die ? 
No, not surely die ;" and as the soul drinks in this, he is 
less diligent in the closet, less watchful, conscientious, not 
so single an eye : he loses, and perhaps rapidly ; and is ei- 
ther church lumber, or measures back to earth ! 

V. Missionary zeaL 

There is always this in true piety — not there should be ? 
but there is. — (Gaultier.) He will reprove and pray for a 
neighbour — a relation, &c. What ! indifferent to a father's 
salvation, or brother's, or wife's, or child's ? What ! no 
tears, no prayers ? But he hears that there are millions of 



414 TALENTS MISIMiPROVED RESUMED BY THE OWNER'. 

souls beyond his country ! " Lord, what wouldst thou have 
me to do ?" "Wilt thou not employ me as a " hewer of 
wood and drawer of water ?" This spirit he will possess as 
his piety abounds. — God feeds the flame while he is thus 
concerned, the oil is poured in, and the zeal of God's house 
eats him up — his property— his life ! — But he shall receive 
all again, and a reward too, though not of right, yet of 
grace. 

But let a man begin to lose piety, and this zeal evapo* 
rates ; and from him, his soul, God will take away, &c, here 
and hereafter. 

* % # In a short time we are going to the eternal world ! 
Our days flee L — After death is judgment. — Then the sen- 
tence, " Come," or " Depart :" which are you prepared for ? 
You have had many gifts : have you improved them ?— • 
Search yourselves : are you treasuring up wrath against the 
day of wrath ? Have you obeyed the Gospel, that says, 
" Come out from among them ?" " What !" say you, " be- 
have rudely to my friends ? They are honest, and respecta- 
ble, and amusing ; and must I leave them because they do 
not fear God ?" — You must separate from all ungodly com- 
pany ; I mean, you must not spend your hours of pleasure 
among them. * * * " Touch not, taste not, handle not." 
Not only separate from the sinner r hui the sin. The Gospel 
says also, "repent." Have you? It says, "Come to me." 
Have you ? — Some of you are laden with cares and misery 
enough. Come — he will receive you graciously : not only 
permit you to come, but thank you for coming — with a grace: 

Those of you who were once converted, do you not want 
it again? Is it not your cry, "Enter not into judgment 
with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be jus- 
tified :." and add also, "Help us to be faithful." It is a 
sad thing to desire pardon to escape hell, and not desire 
faith and holiness to live to God ! — Are we too warm in 
these things? What is everything in life compared with 
the eternal world ! Be not deceived ; God is not mocked ;. 
" for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ;'* 
and " Be not weary in well-doing ; for in due season we- 
shall reap, if we faint not." 



GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 415 



SERMON LXXVI. 

GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 

Zechariah, iv., 10. — Who hath despised the day of small things 1 

Desponding paralyzes — hope animates- — every great un- 
dertaking requires more than lukewarmness — despondency 
Is greatest at the commencement. So with the Jews on their 
return from Babylon, when they commenced rebuilding the 
Temple. — (Expatiate.) They wept at the comparison of the 
two ; but their tears were as dew 1 — The Samaritans deri- 
ded them, and the Jews who were left in Chaldea would 
not return and assist. — Then the prophet commanded them 
to dissipate their fears : " Who hath despised the day of 
small things ?" 

This has ever since been a watchword among Christians : 
small beginnings are not to be despised ; we shall apply it, 

I. To the institutions for religion. 
II. To personal and private religion. 

I. To the institutions for religion. 

This age is famous for struggles for Christ — ingenuity 
added to mercy to invent means — the Gospel to the hea- 
then — Sabbath-schools — and here erected a house for God. 
In many cases appearances may be discouraging ; many 
may draw back, and even some friends ; but the text rouses 
them — they rally and take courage. 

Four reasons why we should not despise the day of small 
things. 

1. Because often the mightiest effects are produced from 
them. — The world of nature : The oak under which cattle 
ruminate, was an acorn which a child or a sparrow could 
grasp — the river, once a rivulet which the ox might drink 
up. World of literature : Johnson once learning his alpha- 
bet— -Newton arithmetic— Milton poetry on his mother's 



416 GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 

knee. Political world: many nations arise from the will 
of one man — the midday vision of a midnight dream. — So 
in grace ; you know what it is, and what it will be — and 
what is its origin ? See what the Jews expected — seven 
thunders would sound — lightnings dart — mountains rise up 
to receive the Messiah's feet. — But a Jewish couple travel- 
ling — put up at a stable — at midnight her pangs came on — 
laid the babe in a manger — yet this religion is to vanquish 
every other. 

Trace the cause of Protestantism — see it all over Europe *, 
all once bowed to the beast — now* fifty millions free who 
three centuries ago walked in slavery. — See its rise — not by 
kings, but by a Dominican friar — nor did Luther know 
where it would end. See Methodism — half a million mem- 
bers — one thousand preachers, some of scholastic eloquence. 
Trace it seventy years — then two preachers, and thirty or 
forty members, &c. 

See the London Missionary Society, expending thirty 
thousand pounds a year — one hundred missionaries — abol- 
ished idolatry in the South Seas — twenty-six years ago con- 
fined to the consultations of nine ministers in London. 

See the Baptist missionaries — rendered the gift of tongues 
useless — from the Ganges to the Indus — twenty-eight years 
ago confined to a few ministers who met at Kettering. 

See the Bible Society, the noblest luminary — that great 
light to rule the day, surrounded by thousands of satellites. 
Its praises in all worlds — seventeen years ago it was the 
purpose of the Tract Society, by one who wished, to provide 
Bibles for the Welsh. Look at these monuments, and take 
courage. 

2. Because God's power can make the feeblest mighty for 
the accomplishment of his work. — Omnipotence ! — the terror 
of the wicked, &c. — can do all things — difficulty is a word 
without meaning.— " He spake, and it was done :" he said, 
" Let there be light" — can work against means. — But see 
—rod of Moses — ram's horns — few fishermen to convert the 
world — the inference is, " Power belongs to God." 

3. We never know what God intends to do, by our un- 
derstanding. — Prescience is not ours — we should not be 

* Year 1819, 



GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 417 

happy if we had it. — Not having this, we cannot see what 
God will do. Robert Raikes of Gloucester, and a few 
ragged children — he little knew the scheme he sketched — 
nor Wesley, when putting thirty or forty in classes, a scheme 
known in all lands. — When a minister has converted a soul, 
it is not a single act — spread it — a seed growing from it, is 
seen at the archangel's trump. The Christian is rewarded 
according to the fruit of his doings. — The man who brought 
the first grain of wheat here — so God rewards for the fruit, 

4. In matters of religion, what is comparatively little is 
abstractedly great — men look for numbers — who would 
build an hospital for one ? If this were done, all men would 
say your labour is lost ; and, indeed, it would be so ; there 
must be an aggregate to make an object to justify these acts. 
Not so in religion : the soul, in point of immortality, derives 
such incalculable worth, that it would repay all our labours 
from its own species, not numbers. — " What shall it profit a 
man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own 
soul?" What funeral obsequies for a lost soul ? The sun 
to veil — the heavens in sackcloth — all nature vocal could not 
give a shriek too deep ! No ; nor is any labour, then, too 
much to save one. — How is it that we are so little affected 
when only one child in a Sabbath-school is converted — or 
only one hearer of the word ; and yet we despond — or if 
we hear of fifty negroes saved by the Lord ? — It is small, 
viewed relatively ; but see it abstractedly I — Why, then, do 
we think so little of one ? Because so many in the gall of 
bitterness — hundreds of millions — and the excess so great 
that the mind is blunted when hundreds die the second 
death — as in a churchyard, death's horrible numbers slain 
takes away his hideous likeness, and hence we neglect one 
dying person. — {Abel.) 

If, then, we want to do much for God, do not generalize 
so much : conceive, if only one soul had fallen, all angels 
would have thought it worth while to accomplish, &c. — 
Look thus : do not be discouraged by seeing how many are 
unsaved, but look at the one saved. — Ministers, be strong I 

Do not despise it by inattention. Do not discard a scheme 
at once, but examine a new scheme, &c. — nor despise it by 

G G G 



418 GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 

ridicule — nor neglect. — (Styles.) — If this rule were tried, 
many noble schemes would never have brought their glory 
forth. — Take care of the infant — man can take care of himself. 

II. To personal and private religion. 

Religion is often small in its commencement — sometimes 
rapid, sudden conviction — but ordinarily more slow — figures 
in Scripture — grain of mustard-seed — leaven — " first the 
blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." — A 
pious resolution in the mind of a child or Sabbath-school 
youth — the hint of a friend, as when the sailor wished the 
rope in hell — or seriousness under a sermon when brought by 
curiosity — a pointed remark ; like the thistle down, it radiates 
where it drops : he goes home, is uneasy ; not deep enough 
to leave off sin, but not happy ; angry with all : the word is 
fascinating, and he goes again, &c. — begins to amend — now 
pleased with himself — roused again — is told that no works of 
righteousness can save — he is half inclined to go back to the 
world ; but he comes again, and hears " the Lord our Righ- 
teousness" — he believes — he enters into rest ; but for a while 
he is low, &c. — it is the day of small things. 

It may be despised by scorn — " He will be cured of the 
fever." — Despised by opposition: where smiles succeed 
not, force is used. — Are any here ? — Stop the wind — put 
out the sun — try and pull up the oak, the veteran of cen- 
turies — equally easy. — May be despised by neglect — in- 
attention — religious impressions are not fostered enough. 
— How many cautious, timid, yet anxious steps ; yet no 
congratulation — no assistance. — "What ! say, "If it be of 
God, ye cannot overthrow it." — Why, then, take away 
preaching. — Philippian jailer. — First impressions are sacred: 
if you can find no better help for them, offer your own — 
adopt them ; let them be your protegee. If they wander, 
follow them ; if they do not improve, try on — if man would 
not sail the world to save a soul, he never felt its worth. 
# # # Some reasons why not despisable, &c. 

It is not despised by those who best know its value. 

1. The Father of Mercies. — See the prodigal — the parent 
rises to seek him — be ran, and he was the only one that ran 
— did he wait then to put him on his probation ? — No : the 



GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 419 

first return of a prodigal more musical than angel's notes. 
He would hush every harp if not able to hear both. 

2. Did the Son despise the day of small things ? See him 
among his weak disciples — see him in the Pharisee's house 
■ — how did he serve the woman ? — Dying thief-— his first pray- 
er was heard ! — 

3. Do angels despise the day of small things ? Do they 
wait to see the redeemed advance through the gates ? It is 
at his repentance that all heaven resounds. 

4. Does Satan despise the day of small things ? The first 
tears of penitence excite his power to arrest it, &c. 

Because it is the pledge of greater. — Traveller and the 
Sun — Farmer and April — Mother and Babe. — We should 
not, then, despise the day of small things. The apostles were 
once in the infancy of grace ; and when God converts, no 
man knows how holy he may be, &c. — This grace is to op- 
erate forever ! 

Application* 

1. To ministers. — To us is committed the care of souls. 
We labour for immortality. — Our success, if so, is greater 
than crowds and plaudits — it will appear in glory. — The 
conversion of the soul is our business. I do not mean first 
impressions : many think all is done here. — It is too often 
the preacher, and not the pastoral duties that are attended 
to. — We shoot the arrow, but do not follow the deer. — We 
grasp at handfuls of success, but do not gather the handfuls. 
« — Wesley followed up the blow ! — If the iron cool, it is 
harder : if fruit, the bud must not be neglected : — a preach- 
er's eye is to be active as his heart ; and when the sermon is 
over, he is to follow and retouch the impression. 

2. .Parents, next to ministers, souls as well as bodies are 
committed to you — explain, enforce, exemplify, pray, and 
look up for the success. — Encourage your children to be fa- 
miliar with you ; do not discourage ; do not say, "It is but 
the morning cloud and early dew." — Eagle — Lark. 

3. Sabbath-school teachers — the salvation of the soul is 
your object. — Is there in your circle one anxious counte- 
nance, where solicitude struggles, but cannot give feeling in 
language, but in looks asks, " What shall I do to be saved ?' ? 



420 GREAT RESULTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 

Will you say, " Oh ! these impressions have been lost be- 
fore." Why ? Because despised by you. — I charge you, 
as you must answer it, mind the buds and the blossoms. 

All of you may do something in this way. Have you not 
seen the gay in the house of God drop the head ? &c. — Go 
home, and carry them the balm — you need no apology : 
they will meet you with, " How beautiful are the feet of 
them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings 
of good things !" 

4. The lately awakened. — Despise not in yourselves the 
day of small things — dread nothing so much as the loss of 
first impressions — it is the dawn. — " Seek him, call on him 
while he is nigh." It is a crisis when a man is moved un- 
der a sermon. The axis quivers, and saints and angels hover 
to see the balance ! — Next to hell, dread to lose it — read, 
pray : let not the sapling compare with the oak, and be dis- 
couraged. — I wish to break despair and lift from despond- 
ency. — He who thinks he has religion enough cannot give 
a more decisive proof that he has none ! 

# # # No schism caused these walls to rise. — If this 
church had no merit but that it unites all sects, it is worthy. 
— Satan had no hand here. — I would not toss the censer of 
adulation to any man living, yet I must express my feelings 
towards those who built this house from that charity which 
is stronger than faith and hope. — I look around me, and see 
that the day of small things is not to be despised. — Now 
fulfil my joy ! — Two thousand pounds debt — well expended. 
"Where are they ? In your pockets. — We hope they will 
not be always there. — It is a year old ; but it may die ! 

We help to build the churches, and we ask a return — it is 
the same object. — Our great object is to make men Chris- 
tians ; then they may leave us. — Ours is a catholic Church. 
— Heavy debts are not pleasant for infant churches — " but 
the times are bad." — They may be worse ; then you would 
be sorry that you did not give : they may be better ; then 
you would not regret it. 

I trust that Britain's sun will yet shine forth, and then you 
will be paid — you will not regret. 



THE NEED OF PATIENCE. 421 



SERMON LXXVIL 

THE NEED OF PATIENCE. 

Hebrews, x., 36. — For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of 
G9d ? ye might receive the promise. 

It requires but little knowledge of the history of the primi- 
tive Church to know that they were persecuted grievously ? 
and yet in the face of their ministers their conduct under it 
was the best comment on the religion of Jesus. It is easy 
lo see the danger to which this exposed them ; many did, 
as one might expect — they apostatized ; and hence the rea- 
son why the epistles abound so much with exhortation in 
reference to bearing under sufferings. 

It has been said that nine tenths of the Christian graces 
are passive ones, and refer to what we should suffer rather 
than do : it was comparatively easy to do ; but they are not 
to suppose that all is then over ; it is needful to have pa- 
tience even after they have done the will of God — a patience 
in suffering, as well as a willingness in doing the will of God, 
&c. — lying like an anvil to the stroke. Now the primitive 
Christians were under far different circumstances to us : it 
would be ingratitude to say they suffered no more than we ; 
but yet that we have equal need of the exhortation, I hope 
to show in a few points. What is patience? I do not call 
that patience which is a stupid insensibility ; the man who 
feels not is not a patient man } but I mean one who feels, 
and feels acutely, in proportion as the edge has been sharp- 
ened by religion ; yet, though he feel, he bears it I Patience 
is a submission to the will of God and all his dispensations 
without a murmur, or even fretfulness — perfect resignation. 
Resignation refers to submitting to whatever God appoints j 
but patience to what comes from man ; yet that this latter is 
sometimes used in reference to God is clear from Job's case ; 
his patience is spoken of in reference to God, and in this we 
are desired to be mindful of it. 

I. Now we have need of patience : first^ with regard to 
36 



> 



422 THE NEED OF PATIENCE. 

the dispensations of God ; his providence is his act. Put a 
case : a pious, honest family who wish to owe no man any- 
thing but love ! — the provider, a son perhaps, on whom the 
aged pair depended, is laid on a bed of affliction, and, in- 
stead of being able to minister, is now ministered unto. Say 
you that this is not a case that needs patience ? That evi- 
dently comes from God! Let none deride the feelings of 
this state, and make light of the affliction and deny it the 
name. * * * Other cases might be added. 

2. Let none start if I say we have need of patience to- 
wards ourselves. Suppose a man has experienced a good 
degree of the measure of God, and thinks himself strong 
enough to combat temptation : it meets him ; he finds it is 
more than a match ; perhaps anger arises ; he thinks he 
can never be saved from all evil tempers ; he has need of 
patience, &c. Let him, therefore, strive, and cease not till 
everything, and every thought, is brought into subjection. 

3. And if needful for ourselves, much more towards oth- 
ers. Who is the man whose lot is cast in those favourable 
circumstances, as to exclude from all possible liabilities to 
procrastination, &c. None ! Man possesses different casts 
of mind ; these produce different opinions ; these different 
practices ; for the man who acts not from opinion is the 
mere child of whim : we require patience for mutual for- 
bearance in these respects ; and some are naturally of un- 
happy dispositions. But there are some, and they take a 
delight in provoking you, so full of Satan as to delight in 
falsely accusing you, cast out your names as evil, and plague 
you from the mere spirit of malevolence. Others, and they 
injure a noble mind as much by excess of servility : this the 
Christian cannot bear ; he has need of patience, &c, on all 
these and other accounts. 

II. How shall we obtain this ? 

1. Humility is the first step, or, rather, the parent of it ; 
patience is its legitimate offspring ! The humble man sees 
he is the least of all God's mercies ; no patience where this 
is not : the proud man is an impatient man ; he resents ev- 
erything — not that a good man should not resent, in a certain 
sense, and inform the person that he has injured him. But 



THE NEED OF PATIENCE. 423 

the proud man looks for more than he has a right to, and the 
humble man for less than he could claim ! — George III. could 
bear the hootings of a mob. — St. Paul at Miletus. * * % 

2. It will be farther produced by a view of his obligation 
to God. He sees he deserved nothing but eternal death ! — 
he weighs his deservings by his present privileges — a child 
of wrath — a child of God ! &c, &c, &c. — and his heart is 
lost in this contemplation, and is ever crying, " What shall 
I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me ?" 

3. Inspired by remembering that whatever we have is of 
God ! not the produce of our labour or industry, but his gift ! 
The soul that thinks and believes this, will submit with pa- 
tience. Job's patience sprang from this : " The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the 
Lord." He gave you children — he had a right to take them 
from you ; and no man can say, What doest thou ? The 
earth is the Lord's ! his by right ; and if he choose to call 
in any of that he lent thee, be patient ! 

4. A firm persuasion that all he does is for good ; nay, for 
the best ! I know no principle more rooted in my mind than 
this, that he who is essentially good can do nothing to injure 
thee : whatever is, is best ! True, he hides from thee his 
reasons ; he makes darkness his covering ; but remember, 
God is love ! Say he knows best, and in that day thou wilt 
see it ; then wilt thou bless him that thy heart has bled ! 

5. Keep the eye fixed on Jesus ! as he was, so be you in 
this world ! Remember, he is your copy : he was reviled, 
but reviled not again ; he bore the " contradiction of sinners 
against himself, lest ye be weary and faint in your minds." 
" Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." 
Though he could have called legions of angels, yet he sub- 
mits to ungodly men, and his dying lips quiver, Father, for- 
give I ■ * * # # * * * 

6. Preserve your union with God by Christ, and with 
Christ by faith : remember, you are the branch in the vine. 
Quote John, xv. — The branch must depend on the stem for 
the juice and moisture necessary to vegetable life. You are 
called to the same union — joined to the Lord : of one spirit 
with him, you will receive those supplies of grace which the 



424 THE BLESSEDNESS OF A STABLE MIND. 

fifth head requires ; your experience will be in spirit, and 
not in letter. Abide in Christ, for without him ye can do 
nothing. 

Objection. — But all my trials cannot come from God. I 
am ill-used, &c, &c, by ungodly men, and that is injustice, 
&c, and God forbids it ; when he forbids , therefore, he can- 
not will. True, the reasoning is good ; he wills not this ; 
but he foresees that it will come, and he permits it ; that is, 
it could not be otherwise unless he worked a miracle to pre- 
vent it ; but this he will not do. But he overrules the evil, 
and blessings come out of it — brings good of it to his chil- 
dren ; and it is his will that by all these trials we should 
improve. Extract the good out of the evil, and be joyful 
even in tribulation, knowing, as Paul says, it worketh pa- 
tience. The fruit is (Moore), having " suffered a while, 
make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." 

Finallv, you shall inherit the promises. * * * 



SERMON LXXVIII. 

THE BLESSEDNESS OF A STABLE MIND. 

Isaiah, xxvi., 3. — Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee ; 
because he trusteth in thee. 

This passage and its connexion describes the state of the 
believer or Church in the times of the Messiah. It is appli- 
cable to us : for in our dispensation " there is neither Greek 
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scyth- 
ian, bond nor free : but Christ is all, and in all." I have 
chosen the text rather as a motto for our subject, which is to 
treat of a stable mind : we shall there show, 

I. What it is to possess it. 
II. Its blessedness. 
III. The way how to attain it. 

I. The first mark of an unsettled mind is doubtfulness : 
you hear a Christian or a church singing, 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF A STABLE MIND. 425 

" Not a cloud doth arise to darken the skies, 
Or hide for a moment my Lord from my eyes." 

And you often say, Oh ! when will this be my state ? whe.i 
shall I walk under the light of thy countenance ? This 
doubting unsettles the mind. Now there may be two causes 
of this : 1. Living in some lust, harbouring something 
within : the light of God can never shine on you in this 
state ; your eye is not single, therefore your body cannot be 
full of light. If you would have a peaceful conscience, you 
must have a pure one, for in this alone can the peace of faith 
be enjoyed. But perhaps this is not your case: you say, 

41 Is there a thing beneath the sun 

That strives with thee this heart to share, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne, 
And reign without a rival there." 

The cause may be, 2. You have not renounced self; you 
have some kind of dependance on your renunciation of sin 
for acceptance with God : this will not do. Even after you 
have come to the temple and stood afar off, and not dared 
to lift up your eyes and smite upon your breast, you must 
still cry, " God be merciful to me, a sinner." The cure of 
this is, coming out of self, and casting the whole soul naked 
before the cross, and relying on Christ alone for everlasting 
life. It is more difficult to renounce self than sin ; and it is 
this which keeps thousands back. 

" I nothing have, I nothing am, 
I nothing want beside." 

Now the cure of this doubtfulness is an unshaken depend- 
ance on God, a firm trust in him that it shall be even unto 
me according to his word — the word of the Lord ! There 
must be a steady act of faith, a taking and keeping hold of 
God in Christ, and a saying with Fletcher, " I must, I will 
believe." Faith is a divine recumbency on the blood of 
Christ ; and this settles the mind and preserves the soul in 
peace. 

II. Another mark and cause of an unsettled mind is an 
inordinate love of the world. Who is there among us that 
does not find the world stealing in upon us ; yea, even at 
our devotions ! Now the cure of this is supreme love to 

Hhh 



426 THE BLESSEDNESS OF A STABLE MIND. 

Christ. There are two hinderances to a steady mind : 1. 
The loving of unlawful things ; and, 2. The loving of law- 
ful things with inordinate affection. I need spend no time 
on the first ; it is evidently criminal ; but the second will 
unsettle thy mind. Now the cure of this is, let Christ be 
the centre of thy soul : if he be supreme in thy affections, 
thy mind will be at rest. Dr. Coke's illustration shows how 
easy it is to turn the mind to what it most loves. I am in 
company with my sweetest friendship ; for a time, however, 
I appear to be immersed in business ; my hands are em- 
ployed in other concerns ; yet how delightfully and rapidly 
I can return to my friendship, who is on my right and left, 
&c. Now if Christ be supreme, thou canst easily turn to 
him ; he ever surrounds thee ! Oh ! man, take him to thy 
business with thee to-morrow. Oh ! woman, let him be at 
thy domestic circle to-morrow ! &c. 

III. An unsettled mind is uneasy under afflictions. — You 
say I need not caution you against the love of the world, for 
it has little left which you enjoy ; your heart lies bleeding ! 
Oh ! thou widow, weak as the ivy torn from the oak ! Oh ! 
thou man, from whose eyes thy desire was cut off at a stroke, 
&c, what will settle thy mind ? Thou art racked with tor- 
ture ! The cure for this is a consideration of the perfections 
of thy God. I say rather perfections than Providence, for 
the volume of Providence, in this instance, is a sealed book ; 
but in a view of God's perfections thy mind will be at rest. 
The perfections I allude to are the eye and the heart of God. 
His eye : nothing happens to thee but he sees it ! The sor- 
rows of thy heart are not unseen by him ! Thy human 
friendships never saw the unutterable sorrows of thy heart ! 
but he does ! And, let me add, they never felt them ; but 
thy God feels them : in the midnight hour he has responded 
to thy sigh, he has dropped his tear with thine ! Thy friend 
was never in thy circumstances identically : but see, " we 
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like 
as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and 
find grace to help in time of need." 



THE BLESSEDNESS OP A STABLE MIND. 427 

Perhaps thou art saying, " Even my friends have forsaken 
me : none calls on me to commiserate." Has thy God for- 
saken thee ? does he never call on thee ? Yes ; his broad 
eye, that takes in creation at a glance, sees all thy griefs : 
and is he indifferent to them ? Nay, he feels them too : he 
would not suffer them if thy good would allow their discon- 
tinuance : while he afflicts, he weeps. The cure in this 
case, therefore, is submission to the Divine will ! Perfect 
resignation to him who does all things well ! " Who is 
among you that walketh in darkness and hath no light ?" — 
Stay upon God ! 

II. See the strength of the expression, perfect peace. 
Margin reads, peace, peace ! nothing but peace ! St. Paul 
calls it " a peace which passeth all understanding," &c. ; 
and no wonder, for it is the peace of God, and he passeth 
knowledge ! 

We have now spoken of faith, love, and resignation to the 
Divine will as the cures of an unsteady mind ; but there is 
another character of this mind which I would name : vain 
and wandering thoughts. You say, " I cannot call them 
sinful, they do not tend that way ; but they rove over crea- 
tion, and fix on nothing; yet lead me off from God." Let 
me ask you a question. Do you dislike them very much ? 
No ; they are generally entertained, if not invited. I would 
here remark the character most inclined to them. It is the 
superficial Christian ; it is one that seldom thinks deeply ; 
dwells on the surface of things, and can scarcely defend the 
simplest Christian truth with any depth of understanding. 
The frothy chitchat of the day draws him aside. The tea- 
table talk of the female is beaux and bonnets, and of the 
men, politics and electioneering ; but let Jesus be introdu- 
ced, and the things of eternity, and a dulness is spread over 
the party ; the chat of the day is preferred. 

Now we want a cure for this. Do not entertain them ; 
cut them off; " put the knife to thy throat:" this is the be- 
ginning of all religion. " If any be my disciple, he will 
deny himself," &c. Keep from the food on which they feed, 
and starve them out. Another way to cure this is, as the 
Rev. Mr. Newton says, " Fill the bushel with wheat, and 



428' A FRIEND AT COURT. 

there will be no room for the chaff." Spiritualize this: fill 
the heart with Jesus and his salvation, and it will not wander. 
Again : read useful books. It is a shame that Christians 
can converse so short a time on religious subjects : let them 
meet a Deist or Antinomian, &c, and they are confounded ; 
they cannot defend the truths they maintain. I am glad 
that our females are now seeing the value of reading : the 
idea that their minds are only fitted for novels is no more. 
I would as soon that death should scatter poison about a 
drawing-room, for every incautious hand, as have novels ly- 
ing on the table : they are the poison of the mind. 

Be much in closet prayer : these wanderers seldom pray. 
The oftener you come to the cross, the more sensibly you 
will experience the crucifying of all these wanderings. But 
you say they follow you there. I do not doubt but Satan- 
will follow to the closet : that is your citadel ; and, like a 
wise general, he would storm that ; and a conquest gained 
over you here is worth ten elsewhere, for he will easily con^ 
quer afterward. Again, in human affairs. # # # But be 
not afraid : if he follow to the closet, attack him : cry to the 
strong for strength, and you shall be conqueror. 

Another cure is recollection. (See Fletcher.) It is the 
Holiest of Holies in the soul : there we commune silently 
with God, and here Satan dares not come, &c, &c, &c 



SERMON LXXDL 



A FRIEND AT COURT. 



Hebrews, iv., 14. — Seeing then that we have a great High- Priest, that is passed inta 
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 

He that thoroughly understands the Romans understands 
all the Gospel — and he who will well digest the Hebrews 
must understand the law and the Gospel. 

In this book chiefly the law is employed as a schoolmas" 
ter, and is to illustrate the Gospel. Paul's great design was 
to confirm the Hebrews : he convinces them that they were 
gainers, not losers, by Christianity ; proves that there was 



% PRIEND AT COURT. 42S 

fiothing under the Mosaic which is not preserved more ex- 
cellent under the Gospel. The Jews boasted of Moses as a 
prophet and lawgiver. St. Paul shows we have one supe- 
rior. " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners 
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in 
these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath 
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the 
worlds ; who being the brightness of his glory, and the ex- 
press image of his person, and upholding all things by the 
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, 
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." The 
superior dignity of our ambassador Christ Jesus shows our 
Oospel to be superior. The Jews boasted of Aaron : in our 
text he shows that in this the Gospel has the advantage : we 
have a great High-priest, far above Aaron.— (Discuss this 
priesthood.) Two particulars in the text. 

I. The exhortation to steadfastness. 
II. The motive by which it is enforced. 

I. The exhortation to steadfastness. 

1. By " our profession .*" it sometimes means the subject- 
matter of our profession. " Wherefore, holy brethren, par- 
takers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and 
High-priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." — Heb., hi., 1: 
elsewhere, not what we profess, but the act of professing. 
il Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without waver- 
ing, for he is faithful that promised." — Heb., x.,23. Same 
sense here : be Christians, and profess it. 

In the Christian world are two kinds of professors. First 
class : all who call themselves Christians ; they, in a sense, 
make a profession. Such should hold fast even that. Bet- 
ter than a world of infidels. See the heathen world. It is 
something that men acknowledge the authority of the Scrip- 
tures. It is a ground : hold fast there, and act according 
to it. 

Some may oppose us when reproved for unchristian con- 
duct. " I make no profession of religion," say they, as if 
$hey had a right to act irreligiously.— Impudent and wicked. 



430 A FRIEND AT COURT. 

— Suppose one make some excuse for social duties, a kind pa- 
rent, an honest man, &c. " Oh ! I make no profession of 
these things :" is he the better for saying " he did not pro- 
fess to love his wife," &c. : it is no excuse for not perform- 
ing — shocking. — Same with those who do not profess reli- 
gion. — Not profess to submit to Christ ? Who purchased 
them with his blood? You ought to make a profession; 
every man's duty is to be religious, and to profess it. — It 
is false and wicked, as well as impudent : all make some 
profession unless they are infidels ; therefore, " let every one 
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 

Second class : those not merely nominal, who have re- 
ceived the grace of God in truth, and not backward at times 
to give a reason of their hope. Such were the Hebrews 
here addressed. " Let us, therefore, fear, lest, a promise 
being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should 
seem to come short of it." 

Three particulars distinguish professors from nominal 
Christians. 

1. It is Scriptural : when it is as it ought to be, we adopt 
the truths imbodied in the profession as the words of God ? 
&e. : the nominal is more on human authority, as from a 
nurse, &c. — not that it is worse thereby. # * * Of all cant* 
the cant of infidels is the most contemptible. 

But we should have a better reason for embracing Chris- 
tianity. This is no better than a Mohammedan has, or a 
man in South Seas for his idols : the true Christian does so 
because he is satisfied it is God's word, and nothing but 
with a " thus saith the Lord." 

2. It is experimental — not a notion r he realizes the com- 
forting and sanctifying influences. Such were the Hebrews z 
u partakers of Christ" — not externals only — but intimate 
union : they partook of the merit of his death to purge them 
from guilt. — One spirit with their glorified Saviour — " they 
had believed to the saving of their souls" — not to the con- 
viction of the judgment only. 

3. It is practical — adorned in his conduct : so the He- 
brews : a zeal for performing God's will, and a patience in 
suffering it. t( God is not unrighteous to forget your work 



A FRIEND AT COURT. 431 

and labour of love which ye have showed towards his name, 
in that ye have ministered to his saints, and do minister :" 
not talking — boasting — but working professors : not captious, 
contending ones, as if they considered religion merely to 
exercise ingenuity upon, but loving ones : " call to remem- 
brance the former days, in which, after ye- were illuminated, 
ye endured a great fight of afflictions ; partly while ye were 
made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions ; and 
partly while ye became companions of them that were so 
used." This is spoken of their patience. Nominal Chris- 
tians often abandon their religion when sufferings come : 
they only stand in sunshine. But real Christians are differ- 
ent : they will suffer for it, and become companions of them 
so used ; not like Demas, or those who left him at his first 
answer, but like Onesiphorus. 

Such is the character of a true professor; such are to 
hold fast — persevere in it — danger of being induced to aban- 
don our profession : this danger arises variously. 

(1.) Satan is busy as a lion : infidels, his allies, endeavour 
to seduce others. Erroneous opinions also are propagated 
in the Christian world, which would deprive it of all of val- 
ue ; as the denying the Divinity and Atonement of Christ, &c. 
■ — What would be left worth holding fast ? Nothing to make 
a religion for sinners — no Gospel. Some moral precepts 
would be left — but this is not a religion for sinners — no good 
news. We intimate nothing against morality when con- 
nected with Christianity. If one violated the civil laws, 
and were sentenced to death, and about to die, imagine one 
comes with bustle, and cries, " I bring thee Gospel, good 
news." What would you think ? A pardon — for that alone 
would be Gospel. But suppose he gravely pulls out the act 
that constitutes the offence ; would not reading this be mock- 
ery ? Not but that the act is good : however good the law % 
it is not Gospel. Such preach some ministers, called Gos- 
pel rational Christians. 

(2.) The world is an enemy to our profession also ; and, 

(3.) The enemies of our own household, our hearts, if not 
sanctified, and even then kept with all diligence, we shall 
lose. Hence the need of the exhortation, " let us hold fast 
our profession." 



432 A FRIEND AT COURT, 

1. Hold the belief of evangelical doctrine : maintain char- 
ity to all ; but determine that none spoil us of the belief of 
the Gospel by philosophy. 

2. Hold fast the experimental profession of evangelical 
privileges — thankful for Christ in our Bibles — pulpits — creeds 
— yet satisfied with nothing less than Christ in our hearts. 

3. Hold fast evangelical duties. " If there be any virtue, 
and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

Finally. Hold fast the readiness meekly, yet fearlessly, to 
profess that religion, the doctrine of which we thus believe, 
the profession of which we experience, the duties of which 
we exemplify. Do not skulk into corners. 

II. The motive derived from Christ's priesthood. 

The terms of the motive, " We have a great High-priest." 
The best of men are most deeply sensible of their corruption 
and guilt : to such this doctrine of his priesthood is full of 
comfort — chiefly discussed in this epistle. We Christians 
have a High-priest. Under the law he made atonement by 
sacrifice, and then on the ground thereof entered the Holy 
of Holies, and offered up intercessions. So we, but in a 
more efficacious manner — a great High-priest — Paul wishes 
to contrast — a greater than Aaron. 

Three grounds of his superiority. 

1. Because of where he exercises his ministry — in the 
heavens ! Aaron in the Tabernacle — then in the Temple : 
though splendid, it could decay, and has decayed : as the 
Jewish could only be exercised at the place appointed by 
God, so when they have not that place they cannot exercise 
it. But see ours, " Christ is not entered into the holy place 
made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into 
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." 
What comfort ! Even his human nature there — a friend at 
court : so we may at all times order our cause, and be sure 
of a gracious audience. 

2. From the more substantial nature of the benefits he 
confers : this is inferred in his name " Jesus" a Saviour, 
save from sins. Aaron was no Jesus, nor his successors ; 
nor the sacrifices, whose virtue was discerned by faith, as 
types. But our High-priest is Jesus, a Saviour — he can 
cleanse — once suffered, and all merit is in his sacrifice. 



A FRIEND AT COURT. 433 

3. Because of the superior dignity of his original nature, 
" the Son of God" — " the brightness of his glory and ex- 
press image of his person." Aaron and his successors were 
sons of men, and, as such, were sinful — fallen nature — per- 
sonal transgressors — offered up atonement for their own sins 
— mortal also — they died, and often by death there was no 
high-priest. But ours is the Son of God ! Sinless : though 
a humanity, a sinless one- — unchargeable with a single guilt — 
needs no sacrifice for himself — all the stock of his infinite 
merit is applicable to the purposes of human salvation. Now 
immortal ; though dead, he lives — impossible he should be 
holden of death — even of the manhood — now he liveth — 
ever — any moment you may come without fear (of disap- 
pointment) of a High-priest to offer for us. " By so much 
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they 
truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to 
continue by reason of death : but this man, because he con- 
tinueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore 
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto 
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them. For such an high-priest became us, who is holy, 
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher 
than the heavens ; who needeth not daily, as those high- 
priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then 
for the people's : for this he did once, when he offered up 
himself. For the law maketh men high-priests which have 
infirmity ; but the word of the oath, which was since the 
law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore" 
(this — not "man" — but Son) : "he makes the Son," not a 
man, high-priest forever ! 

Now wherein consists the force of this motive ? 

(1.) On account of Christ's priesthood we ought. 

(2.) We can hold fast our profession. 

1. We ought. Unless some flaw in the Gospel, why 
change it ? Why careless about it — about the propagation 
of it ? It is a perfect system — no flaw-— and it is Jesus pass- 
ing into the heavens which stamps the whole. 

You are sinners : no religion will suit you that does not 
say how you are to be pardoned. The Gospel does this by 
37 In 



434 THE WAY OF HOLINESS. 

saying you have a High-priest : the way is opened by his 
blood, and kept open by his intercession. Not guilty only, 
but corrupt also : no religion will suit you but what shows 
how you may destroy this. The Gospel tells you by saying 
you have a High-priest, procuring for you the Holy Ghost 
to renovate you : the Gospel in the priesthood of Christ has 
a cure, a cordial for all, &c. — Why, then, go elsewhere ? 
You ought, then, to hold fast ; you will never get a better : 
no pardon elsewhere — but damned ! 

2. Some fear they cannot hold fast — fightings, tempta- 
tions, world, &c. " I shall be overcome and lose all." 
So you would if left to yourselves, with all your grace and 
power, if deprived of farther intercourse. But, " seeing 
then that we have a great High-priest, that is passed into 
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our pro- 
fession." You have a High-priest, and he is Jesus, and his 
blood is so infinite in merit that he can ask of God anything. 
— £>uch a friend ! Use him, and you are a match for all by 
the Spirit procured by Jesus. You may stand, and having 
done all, stand. Even thou worm Jacob — fight and over- 
come. If Jesus be on thy side, and thou availest thyself of 
his promised help, thou may est overcome the powers of dark- 
ness. 



SEEMON LXXX. 

THE WAY OF HOLINESS. 

Isaiah, xxxv., 8, 9, 10. — And an highway shall be there, and away, and it shall be 
called, The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be for 
those : the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be 
found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : 

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and ever- 
lasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sigh- 
ing shall flee away. 

I. A high way. 
II. A holy way. 

III. A plain way. 

IV. A safe way. 

V. A delightful way. 



A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. 435 



SERMON LXXXI. 

A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. 

Hebrews, iv., 11. — Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall 
after the same example of unbelief. 

Though man's salvation primarily depends on God — yet 
secondarily on man. — "When we see so many who begun in 
the spirit, and who ended in the flesh, we need the exhorta- 
tion. 

I. What is the rest ? 

II. Consider the exhortation how we are to labour. 
III. The motive to actuate us, " lest any man fall," &c. 

I. What is the rest ? 

1. It is a rest from outward labour and toil. 

2. A rest from sin ; not from sin in the believer, for of 
this he is saved in time; but from the sinful sights he sees, 
and the temptations he meets with. — As the mariner is toss- 
ed, and put in danger of his life, the sea calms, and he gets 
to his port in safety. — What joy ! 

3. It is a glorious rest. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard," &c. — We shall appear with him in glory. — As the 
soldier comes home crowned with laurels, so we, the sol- 
diers of Christ, shall get home crowned with glory — crowns 
of glory on our heads ! 

4. It is an eternal rest. — If we could look to a*ny period 
when that rest would cease, it would cause pain. 

II. Consider the exhortation how we are to labour. 

1. In prayer. 

2. In self-examination — a duty too much neglected by 
Christians. 

— Query ? A third head ? 

III. The motive to actuate us, " lest any man fall," &c. 
As faith is the grand means of our salvation, so is unbe- 
lief of our destruction. It is the first cause of our sinning, 



436 THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

and we never disobey God till we disbelieve him. See our 
first parents : they disbelieved that they would die, and then 
they disobeyed. — 

For example, in the context here is the Israelites. 



SERMON LXXXIL 

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

Revelation, xx., 11-15. — And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, 
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found no place 
for them. 

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were 
opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of life ; and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up 
the dead which were in them ; and they were judged every man according to their 
works. 

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of 
fire. 

1. Introduce the general judgment by showing the states 
of the book of Revelation, and by dwelling on them in their 
order, particularly the millennium ; after which this follows. 

2. Prove the certainty of the judgment from the whole 
word of God. — Quote all the passages in the prophets, &c. 
for this purpose. 

3. Describe it by again going over all those passages, and 
adding any new matter to heighten the awful scene ; as 
Daniel, &c, &c. 

4. Show the sinner condemned by himself ; God causing 
the sinner even to pass sentence on his own soul, not that 
he was a sinner, but that he neglected so great a salvation. 
Describe that salvation — God dying for man ! — Divine 
blood ! — Show how no other ransom would do ; and make 
the sinner confess that such infinity of love so despised de- 
manded infinity of punishment. — Show the sinner as craving 
his own sentence at the hands of God, and his mouth shut 
« — God unwilling to damn him — but justice requiring it. " I 
never made hell for you ! but depart into everlasting fire." 



THE GENERAL JUDGEMENT. 437 

- — In the application — ask the sinner to weigh the cost !— * 
that he sees the fair end of his race ; ask, can he endure 
everlasting fire, or that torture shown under the strongest 
figures ? If he think he can, if his bones brass, &c, well, 
go on ! you will soon receive this just reward ! — If awaken- 
ed, then stop ; do not take another step, lest that step should 
be into hell ! Cry for mercy, &c. 

— " Behold, he cometh with clouds,' ' &e. ; clothed with a 
garment down to the foot, &c. — his head and his hair were 
white like wool, and his feet like burnished brass — his coun- 
tenance is as the sun shining in his strength. — The sight 
made John fall at his feet as dead ! — like a jasper, &c. — The 
elders round him in white, and crowns of gold, &c. — Out 
of the throne came lightnings and thunderings, &c, and 
before the throne a sea, &c. — Fall on us and hide us from 
his face. Who shall be able to stand ? — A great multitude 
clothed in white, &c. — a sea of glass mingled with fire, and 
standing on it with harps, &c. — I heard, as it were, the 
sound of many waters — his eyes were as a flame of fire — on 
his head were many crowns, and a name written, "The 
Word of God." — Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword — 
King of Kings, &c. — He that is unjust, let him be so still ! 
&c, &c, &c. 



THE END* 






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